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GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA; 



COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF 



BRITISH INDIA, 



AND 



THE VARIOUS STATES ENCLOSED OR ADJOINING. 



FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS, 




LONDON : 

W M H. ALLEN & CO, 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. 

1870. 



It is particularly requested that notice of any errors 
or omissions in this ivork be cow/rmmicated to the Editor 
under cover to the Publishers. 

In €xefc. 
J), Of Q. Pub. Lib. 



PRINTED BY Vt OODFALL AND KINDER, 
MILFORB STRAND. 



Jo 

INTBODUCTOEY NOTICE. 



r 
h3 



In the absence of any convenient and correct account 
of Modern Indian Geography, the following pages are 
submitted with some confidence as adapted for General 
use both in England and India. & 
_ The admirable gazetteers of Mr. Thornton, based on 
information obtained from the most accurate sources, and 
prepared with great care, have served as the basis of the 
present work, and have been freely drawn upon. Various 
blue books, and statements published by authority, some 
of them during the present year, have been made use of 
t Z S * ? TT** *T *° a receat P eri °d, and changes 

noted Utl °Y f dlSt T riCtS and P r °™ «» duly 

noted Other works on India have been referred to 
: and valuable assistance has been obtained, in the revision 
of the pages, from those best informed on the subject 
in this country. auojece 

The spelling of proper names has been rendered as 
pieased. Thus « replaces oo, and * replaces ee ■ h is 

Snotaffeld nd, ' are " ^ *" 
A full Index, containing more than 2,000 references 

nsi? ri Table °/ Contents ' wm ^ *£2 

useful for reference. It is hoped that it may be found 

Stti? t S T b °?' ° nly f ° r instruct 
out m native schools where English is taught. 



D. T. A. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

General Description. 

Position, Boundaries, and Extent, p. 1 . Mountains, p. 3. Pla- 
teaux, p. 8. Plains and Valleys, p. 9. Rivers, p. 9. Lakes 
and Lagoons, p. 19. Climate, p. 20. Vegetable and Animal 
Life, p. 22. Mineral Resources, p. 24. Population and 
Races of Men, p. 25. Languages, p. 31. Religions, p. 33. 
Government, p. 36. Revenue, p. 37. Trade and Commerce, 
p. 37. Means of Communication, p. 38. Canals and Irriga- 
tion Works, p. 41. Political and Natural Divisions, p. 43. 
Progress of British Power in India, p. 44. 

CHAPTER II. 

Northern India. — Eastern Division. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions of Northern India, p. 47. (1) The 
Lower Provinces of Bengal : General Account, p. 48. Cal- 
cutta, p. 51. Regulation Provinces : Bagulpur Province, 
p. 53. Burdwan Province, p. 54. Chittagong Province, p. 55. 
Cuttack Province, p. 56. Dacca Province, p. 57. Nuddea, 
or Presidency, Province, p. 59. Patna Province, p. 61. 
Rajshaye Province, p. 64. N on ~ Regulation Provinces: 
Assam, p. 67. Cooch Behar, p. 70. (2) British Burma; 
Arracan, p. 71. Pegu, p. 73. Tenasserim and Martaban, 
p. 74. Andaman Islands, p. 75. Nicobar Islands, p. 76. 
(3) Straits Settlements: Malacca, p. 76. Penang Province, 
p. 77. Singapore, p. 77. "Wellesley Province, p. 77. (-1 
Native States of North- Eastern India : Botan, p. 78. Mi. 
nipur, p. 79. Nepaul, p. 80. Sikkim, p. 82. Tippe. , 
(Hill), p. 83. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Northern India. — Western Division. 

5) North- Western Provinces of Bengal : General Account, p. 84. 
Regulation Provinces: Agra Province, p. 86. Allahabad 
Province, p. 89. Benares Province, p. 91. Meerut Pro- 
vince, p. 95. Rohilcund Province, p. 98. Non- Regulation 
Provinces: Ajmir Province, p. 100. Jansi Province, p. 101. 
Kumaon Province, p. 102. (6) Oude, p. 104. (7) The 
Punjab: General Account, p. 106. Amritsur Province, 
p. 111. Cis-Sutlej States, p. 112. Delhi Province, p. 113. 
Derajat Province, p. 115. Hissar Province, p. 117. Lahore 
Province, p. 118. Multan Province, p. 120. Peshawur 
Province, p. 121. Rawul Pindi Province, p. 122. Trans- 
Sutlej States, p. 123. (8) Native States of North-Western 
India : Bahadurgur, Bawalpur, and Bullubgur, p. 125. 
Cashmere, p. 125. Deojana, Furrucknuggur, and Gurwal, 
p. 128. Hill States, p. 129. Jujur, p. 131. Kupperchulla, 
Loharu, and Patowdi, p. 132. Rajputana, p. 132. Ram pur 
and Shapura, p. 137. Sikh States, p. 138. (9) Independent 
Native Countries adjoining North- Western India : Affganis- 
tan, p. 139. Beluchistan, p. 142. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Central India. 

boundaries and Subdivisions, p. 144. (1) The Central Provinces : 
General Account, p. 146. Nagpur and Chuttees Gur Pro- 
vinces, p. 149. Nerbudda and Jubbulpur Provinces, p. 152. 
Chota Nagpur, p. 155. (2) Hydrdbad : General Account, 
p. 157. Assigned Districts, p. 159. Nizam's Dominions, 
p. 160.' (3) $falwa, or Central India: Ali Mohun, Am- 
jerra, and Bopal, p. 165. Bundelcund, p. 166. Burwani, 
Dewas, and Dar, p. 168. Gwalior Territories, p. 169. 
Indore Territories, p. 171. Jabua, Jowra, Koorwai, Koti, 
Myhir, Ocheyra, Omutwarra, and Rewa, p. 173. Rutlam, 
SeetaMow, Shagur, and Sohawal, p. 174. (4) Orissa States : 
Jeypur and Hill Zemindars, p. 174. South- West Frontier of 
Bengal States, p. 175. Cuttack Mehals, p. 176. 



vi 



CONTEXTS. 



CHAPTER Y. 

Western India. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions, p. 177. General Account, p. 178. 
Bombay, p. 180. (1) Bombay Provinces, Northern Division I 
Ahmed abad District, p. 181. Bombay and Colaba District, 
p. 182. Broach and Candeish Districts, p. 183. Kaira, Surat 
and Tanna Districts, p. 184. Southern Division : Ahmed- 
nuggur and Belgaum Districts, p. 185. Canara (North) and 
Darwa Districts, p. 186. Kuladgi and Poona Districts, p. 
187. Rutnagerry (or Concan) and Sattara Districts, p. 188. 
Sholapur and Surat Districts, p. 189. (2) Sind, p. 189.1 
(3) Native States North of Bombay : Cutch, p. 194. Guzerati 
States, p. 196. Kyrpur and Rewa Caunta, p. 201. (4) Na-m 
tire States South of Bombay : Jinjira and Kolapur, p. 202, ] 
Sattara Jaghires, p. 203. Sawunt Warree, p. 203. Southern { 
Mahratta Jaghires, p. 204. (5) Portuguese Possessions : Da-1 
man and Diu, p. 204. Goa, p. 205. (6) Aden, p. 205. 

CHAPTER EL 

Southern India. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions, p. 206. General Account, p. 207. I 
Madras, p. 210. (1) Madras Collectorates : Arcot (North) 1 
District, p. 211. Arcot (South) District, p. 212. Bellary 
District, p. 213. Canara (South) District, p. 213. Coimba- 1 
tore District, p. 214. Cuddapa District, p. 215. Ganjam 1 
District, p. 216. Godavery District, p. 218. Kistna Dis- I 
trict, p. 219. Kurnul District, p. 219. Madras District, I 
p. 219. Madura District, p. 220. Malabar District, p. 221. 
Nellore District, p. 224. Salem District, p. 225. Tanjore I 
District, p. 225. Tinnevelly District, p. 226. Trichinopoly 
District, p. 227. Yizagapatam District, p. 228. (2) Mysore 
and Coorg : Mysore, p. 230 ; Coorg, p. 233. (3) Native States: 
Banganapilly and Cochin, p. 234. Puducotta, Sundur, and 
Travancore, p. 235. (4) French Possessions: Carical, and 
Cbandernagore, p. 238. Mahe, Pondicherry, and Yanaon^ 
p. 239. (5) Ceylon, p. 240, 



GEOGKAPHY OF INDIA. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

Position, Boundaries, and Extent — Mountains— Plateaux — Plains 
and Valleys— Rivers — Lakes and Lagoons — Climate — Vege- 
table and Animal Life — Mineral Resources — Population and 
Races of Men — Language — Religions — Government — Revenue 
— Trade and Commerce — Means of Communication — Canals 
and Irrigation "Works — Political and Natural Divisions — Pro- 
gress of British Power in India. 

Position, Boundaries, and Extent.— The peninsula of 
India occupies nearly the same relative position with 
regard to Asia that Italy does to Europe. It consists of 
a spur projecting southwards from the central and loftiest 
part of the great mountain axis of the Old World. This 
spur is wide towards the mountains, and gradually 
narrows till it terminates southward at Cape Comorin. 
The large island of Ceylon represents Sicily. The great 
River Ganges conveys the drainage of the southern face of 
the Asiatic Alps into the Bay of Bengal, just as the Po 
does that of the European Alps into the Adriatic. The 
mountains of Arracan on the east, and of the country 
beyond the Indus to the west, form, with the Himalaya, 
the land boundaries of India ; and within these limits and 
the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal 

1 



2 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



is contained the whole country, reaching from about the 
36th to the 8th parallel of north latitude. Its limits of 
longitude are 66V and 99^° east from Greenwich. Un- 
like Italy, however, in some respects, much of the central 
part of India is table-land; mountains rising chiefly on 
the western, but partly on the eastern shore, and occa- 
sionally crossing the country. 

Both Italy and India consist largely of volcanic rock ; 
but in India itself are no active volcanoes. The climate 
of India, affected by its geographical position, is neces- 
sarily very different from that of any part of Europe ; and 
the result of this is seen in totally distinct natural 
groups of plants and animals, and even in the races of 
men who inhabit the great Asiatic promontory. 

India proper, or Hindustan, is separated from Tibet to 
the north by the Himalayan mountains ; from China and 
the Barman Empire to the north-east by spurs of the 
Eastern Himalaya, serving as the eastern watershed of 
the Bramaputra; and from Affganistan and Beluchis- 
tan to the north-west by spurs of the Western Hima- 
laya (the Sidiman range), serving as the western water- 
shed of the Indus. Naturally and geographically, the 
peninsula commences on the east at the mouths of the 
Ganges, and on the west at the mouth of the Indus ; but, 
politically, India includes Arracan, Pegu, and the Tenas- 
serim provinces, the Yoma mountains being the boundary 
of the former, while the Siamese mountains separate Tenas- 
serim from Siam. The Arabian Sea washes the western, 
and the Bay of Bengal the eastern shores of the penin- 
sula, and its southern extremity projects into the Indian 
Ocean. Its greatest length (not including Ceylon), 
measured from the extremity of the Punjab on the 
north, to Cape Comorin in the south, is 1,830 miles. Its 
breadth from Kurrachi in the west, beyond the Indus, to 
the eastern extremity of Assam, beyond the Bramaputra, 
is nearly as much. Its total area is estimated at 
1,572,386 square miles. From the Gulf of Cambay to 
the mouth of the Hoogly — which may be regarded as 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 







the limits of the smaller and more distinct peninsula— the 
distance is nearly 1,000 miles. 

J India has a coast-line of about 3,600 miles. The 
south-west coast is called the Malabar coast, from the 
province of that name. The east coast from Palk's 
Straits to the mouth of the Kistna, is called the Coro- 
mandel coast, from the name of an ancient Indian king- 
dom. From the mouth of the Kistna to the mouths of 
the Godavery it is called the Golconda coast. Beyond 
; that to the Hoogly is the Orissa coast. 

Notwithstanding the great length of coast-line round 
India, the number of its harbours is few, and the ports, 
though numerous, are not well adapted for trading pur- 
poses : Bombay; Coringa, on the Coromandel coast ; Cochin, 
on the Malabar coast; and Trincomali, in Ceylon, are the 
best natural harbours. The chief ports are Aleppi, Beypur 
Bimlipatam, Bombay, Calicut, Cannauore, Cochin, Coco- 
nada, Coringa, Karwa, Kurrachi, Madras, Mangalore 
Masulipatam, Moulmein, Negapatam, Pondieherry, Quilon 
Eangoon, Tellicherry, Tuticorin, and Yizagapatam. 

India includes, in addition to the British possessions, 
nearly two hundred native states, varying, in dimensions, 
from a few hundred acres to nearly 100,000 square miles 
dispersed sometimes singly, sometimes in groups, and gene- 
rally surrounded by, or included in, British districts. These 
are governed by native chiefs,* under the protection of 
the British Government, and almost all pay tribute. The 
total area of these states (including French and Portu- 
guese possessions) is nearly 670,000 square miles, leaving 
904,628 square miles of British possessions. Of the 
native states, a part (about 50,000 square miles), is under 
British administration. 

Mountains.— 1. The Himalaya chain is the great 
mountain chain of India, and separates the peninsula 
ifrom Central Asia. It stretches, in an irregular line, 

* The Hindu chiefs are called Rajas and Maharajas; the 
Mohamedan, Nawabs. 

1 



4 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



from the defile above Cashmere on the north-west 
(through which the Indus penetrates to the plains of the 
Punjab, dividing the chain from that of the Hindu 
Cash) to the southern bend by which the Sanpu or 
Dihong river enters India to join the Bramaputra. 
The Indus and Bramaputra start from almost the same ; 
point on the northern side of the Himalaya, the one 
proceeding west, and the other east ; these river valleys j 
nearly detach the chain. It extends over 22 degrees 
of longitude. Between the sources of the Indus and 
Bramaputra is a great mountain knot, which connects 
the chain with others to the north. The mean breadth j 
of the Himalaya is about 150 miles, and the mean j 
height is estimated at 20,000 feet. The height of the j 
snow-line on the Indian side is 18,500 feet.. The greatest 
elevation in the Himalaya is Mount Everest, 29,000 feet j 
above the sea ; near it are several peaks — Kinchinjunga 
and Dawalagiri, both upwards of 28,000 feet, and a 
large number above 25,000. The passes across the 
Himalaya, from the valleys on the Indian side, are all 
lofty and difficult of access, 17,000 feet is about the 
usual height. 

In front of the main Himalayan chain are subordinate j 
or sub-Himalayan ranges, and between the last of these I 
and the plains of India is a broad strip of marshy land, 
covered with forest and jungle, called the " Terai " (see 
page 100). It is subject to the most fatal malaria to 
human beings, but is crowded with wild animals of all 
kinds. It also contains much rich soil and some iron ore. 

2. Sewalih range. — These mountains are parallel to 
the Himalaya between the Ganges and the Sutlej for 
about 155 miles. Their breadth is about ten miles, 
and their highest point is 3,500 feet above the sea. 
Towards the Sutlej they are low hills. They are remark- 
able for the interesting fossils that have been found in 
them, indicating the nature of the former inhabitants of 
this part of the world. 

3. fSuliman Mountains. — This extensive and lofty range j 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



5 



' forms the boundary of British empire in Western India. 
[ It extends from south to north 350 miles (from lat 29° to 
! 33° 50'), and is nearly parallel to the course of the Indus, 
from which it is distant seventy miles. The extreme eleva- 
tion is about 11,000 feet, which is below the limit of per- 
| petual snow in that latitude. The steepest, or escarped 
| side, is towards the Indus, the western declivity being' 
| gradual, and passing into the desert table-land of Sives- 
tan, in AfFganistan. Many streams descend the eastern 
1 side, and fertilize the plains at their foot, but hardly any 
of the water reaches the Indus, and no streams whatever 
[ proceed from the other side. Yegetation on these moun- 
: tains is vigorous and varied, the sides being covered with 
lofty and dense forest, and the valleys overgrown with 
flowering plants. 

4. Salt Range. — A group of mountains ranging south- 
eastwards from the northern extremity of the Suliman 

: mountains to the right bank of the River Jelum. It receives 
its English name from its numerous and thick beds of 
common salt, which have been long worked to great 
advantage. The elevation is not considerable, nowhere 

j exceeding 3,000 feet above the sea. The range is crossed 
by the Indus, which has cut a deep rocky channel, on the 
sides of which the salt-beds are exposed. Besides salt, 
this range contains much iron ore of the richest kind, 
and there is a considerable quantity of gold. Alum, 
slate, sulphur, saltpetre, and other earthy minerals have 

; been observed (see page 122). 

5. Vindya Range. — This is also an east and west 
> range, and it separates the valley of the Nerbudda, and 

; the other parts of Central India, from the valleys of 
the Jumna and Ganges. It unites, also, the northern 
extremities of the Western and Eastern Ghats. The 
range is nearly 150 miles in length, and it consists of 
granite and sandstone, capped by basalt. The mountains 

1 descend on the northern side into the table-land of Malwa, 
and may be traced eastwards— though of no great eleva- 
tion — crossing the valleys of the Ganges and Brama- 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

putra, and rising again in the mountains of Assam, 
Much of the country is rugged, but the elevations are noi 
very considerable. The summits vary in height from 
1,000 to 2,000 feet, the crest of the Jam Ghat, the 
highest point, being 2,328 feet above the sea. 

6. Satjpivra Mountains. — An east and west range of 
about 200 miles, parallel to the Yindya range, dividing . 
the valley of the I^erbudda from that of the Tapti. 
The south declivity, towards the Tapti, is abrupt; 
the northern, towards the Nerbudda, very gentle. The 
appearance of the chain is more bold and romantic than I 
that of the Yindya, rising into lofty peaks, and swelling 
into fine forms. They are of volcanic origin, consisting 
of greenstone and other modern igneous rock, capped] 
with basalt. Asirgur, one of the summits, is about 1,200 
feet above the sea. The highest summits are estimated 
at 2,000 feet. 

7. Maliadeo Mountains. — A cluster of mountain land, I 
of considerable height, in the northern part of the 
^Nagpur territory, situated at the eastern extremity of the I 
Satpura mountains, where they adjoin the Yindya, and 
extending from long. 78° to 80°. The higher elevations 
have been estimated at 5,000 feet, but are probably 
much less. The culminating ridge forms the watershed 
separating the waters that go to the ISTerbudda from those- 
of the Goclavery. 

8. Aravalli Mountains. — A long low chain, running 
north-east, between the basins of the Ganges and the | 
Indus, and touching the western extremity of thd 
Yindya. It is bold and precipitous on the north-west 
side, but less so on the south-east. It is without any* 
pass for wheel-carriages for 220 miles. The highest 
summit is Mount Abu, estimated at 5,000 feet above the? 
sea; but the usual elevation is about 3,600 feet. 

9. Western Ghats. — The name Ghat, or Ghaut,* is 



* The word Ghat properly designates passes across mounta: 
chains rising in successive steps. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



7 



given in India to the mountain chains that ascend rapidly 
with a very rough and hold escarpment from the coast, 
chiefly on the western, hut also on the eastern side of the 
peninsula, south of the Tapti on the one side, and the 
Bengal provinces on the other. The Western is by far 
the loftiest and the most important chain, commencing 
with elevations of about 2,000 feet in lat. 21° 10', and 
proceeding southward, gradually becoming more and 
more lofty, for more than 200 miles, when its height, at 
Mahabaleshwar, is 4,700 feet. Here, as elsewhere, the 
western declivity is abrupt, and its base depressed nearly 
to the sea-level, a distance rarely exceeding forty or fifty 
miles from the ridge. On the eastern side of the water- 
shed the range descends to a lofty rugged table-land of 
considerable elevation, gradually, but very slowly, depressed 
towards the plains of Hyderabad. To the south of 
Mahabaleshwar, the height of the range diminishes for 
about 200 miles, until in lat. 15°, on the frontier of the 
Madras Presidency, it is not more than 1,000 feet, the 
slopes being gradual and the outlines rounded. Still 
further south the elevation again increases, and attains 
its maximum near Coorg, where Bonasson Hill is about 
7,000 feet, and there are other summits of nearly 6,000. 
The Ghats at this point join and pass into the ISTeilgherry 
mountains, and afterwards rise into the Kunda Moun- 
tains, which terminate abruptly to the south in high and 
almost vertical precipices, extending across the peninsula, 
and connecting the Western with the Eastern Ghats. 
There is a gap twenty miles wide between this steep 
escarpment and the continuation of the range southward, 
which terminates in Ca}3e Comorin, whose summits attain 
a height of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. 

The lofty range thus extending for about 800 miles 
near the coast is broken at intervals by gorges and 
chasms, which give access to the highlands and the 
plains of Central and Southern India, and which give 
their name to the whole chain. These passes are not 
very lofty. . The whole range of the Western Ghats 



8 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



present no summits which can compare with even the 
lower ranges of the Himalaya chain, but the character 
of the scenery is exceedingly grand, and many of the 
higher peaks are almost inaccessible, owing to the extreme 
ruggedness of the outline. The rocks are to a very large 
extent volcanic; enormous sheets of basalt ranging for 
very long distances. T$o streams break through the 
Western Ghats, the only drainage being that from the 
western slope of the chain. 

10. Eastern Ghats. — This chain is both lower and less 
abrupt than the Western, and differs from it in being 
more distant from the coast, rising with less abruptness 
from the sea, and giving access, by a nnmber of deep 
gorges and wide openings, to the drainage of the whole of 
the interior peninsula. The average elevation is estimated 
at 1,500 feet, the highest summit (near Madras) being 
about 3,000 feet. The Eastern and Western Ghats 
connect in the south, as already stated. The main 
foundation of the Eastern Ghats is granitic rock. 

11. Neilgherries. — The small mountain chain thus 
named is really a lofty spur at the southern extremity 
of the Western Ghats. The range extends towards the 
north-east for about forty miles, the extreme breadth 
being fifteen miles. The northern side, towards Mysore, 
rises about 3,500 feet above that table-land, and connects, 
by a series of precipitous granite peaks, with the Ghats. 
There are three parts of the range, the central rising, in 
the Mountain of Dodabetta, to 8,760 feet, the culminating 
point of all the mountain land of Southern India. There 
are five other peaks above 8,000 feet, and ten between 
6,000 and 8,000 feet {see note, p, 214). 

Plateaux. — The central part of India consists of the 
lofty plateau of the Deccan, extending between the 
Eastern and Western Ghats, and gradually sloping to the 
south-east. Much of it is covered by basalt, the parts 
thus capped being generally preserved from the denuding 
action of the weather, and producing the isolated flat- 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



9 



topped hills so characteristic of the country. The Pulnai 
Hills are a lofty part of this plateau in the south, rising 
in parts to 8,000 feet, and generally 7,000 feet, above the 
sea. They are very picturesque. The mean elevation of 
the Deccan is about 3,000 feet, from which it sinks to 
1,500 feet. The central part is composed of undulating- 
plains, without trees, covered with verdure after rain, but 
desert in the dry season. North of the Nerbudda there 
is another plateau, that of Malwa. The plateau of Malwa 
is from 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the sea. 

Plains and Valleys. — A very large part of Northern 
India consists of the valleys of the Ganges and Brama- 
putra, extending between the lowest ranges of the 
Himalaya to the north, the table-land of Malwa and its 
extension eastward to the south, and the Aravalli moun- 
tains to the west. This vast space rises gradually from 
the east towards the west and north-west; but for the 
most part does not attain an elevation of more then 1,000 
feet, except where it approaches the mountains. There is 
also an extensive but narrow plain between the Eastern 
Ghats and the sea, on the coast of the Carnatic, and the 
tongue of land between the Kistna and Godavery (also 
low plain) is of considerable extent. Between the Ara- 
valli mountains and the Suliman mountains is the valley 
of the Indus, which includes a large tract of sandy desert 
called the Thur, with no eminence except hills of blown 
sand. This district extends between the left bank of the 
Indus and the mountains, and includes a large part of 
Rajputana, and some part of Sind. The Eunns of Cutch 
are included in this area (see p. 194). 

Rivers. — The drainage system proceeding from the 
Himalaya mountains, corresponds in magnitude and im- 
portance to the vast rocky mass from whose valleys and 
glaciers the water is derived. It comprises three of the 
principal rivers of the Western hemisphere, with their 
numerous tributary streams ; and each stream affords a 
complete network of waters. 



no 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



1. The Indus. — This stream takes its rise in lat. 32°, 
long. 81° 30', a little north of the Kailas mountain, at an 
elevation of 22,000 feet above the sea. It flows over a 
table-land for about 100 miles, receiving several tributa- 
ries, and then enters the deep gorges of a great depres- 
sion, separating the Kuen Lun mountains from the 
Himalaya chain. It first receives the name of Indus in 
Little Tibet, where the Shayuk joins it at a distance of 
about 500 miles from the source. As far as that point 
the name is Sin-ka-bab, or the Lion's Mouth. At the 
junction the Shayuk is the larger river, but the other the 
deeper and fuller stream. ISTot far below this junction 
the Indus emerges from the mountain region, passing the 
western side of Cashmere. It begins to be navigable at 
Attock, about 870 miles from the source, and 940 from 
the sea. At this point it receives the Cabul river, a 
considerable stream, from the west, The Indus is here 800 
feet wide, sixty feet deep, and runs at the rate of six miles 
an hour at some seasons, and is about 1,000 feet above 
the sea. Between Attock and Kala Bag (less than 100 
miles), it runs between precipices and in ravines, and then 
enters the plain. From this point it loses its clearness, 
and is subject to seasonal inundations, commencing with 
the spring, and caused by the melting of snow. It con- 
tinues now with a steady southern course, and with little 
addition for about 300 miles, till its confluence with the 
channel which conveys the Sutlej and the other large 
streams of the Punjab. At this confluence the affluent 
is the wider stream, but the Indus conveys the greater 
body of water. Below the junction of the Punjab 
group of rivers the Indus is never less than 2,000 yards 
wide, but it is not very deep. It passes for about 350 
miles through a plain country, shifting its course, and 
often expanding, with numerous branches, till it reaches 
Tatta, the head of the existing delta. The bulk of the 
water is discharged by a few large but shifting courses 
along a line of about 130 miles of coast, at the head of 
the Arabian Sea. The Kukywari and the Kori are tho 
widest channels; but inland navigation is kept up by 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



11 



a multitude of ways, varying from one season to another. 
When the river is high, the whole of the mouths com- 
municate more or less freely, and are entirely under 
water. The tide reaches Tatta, about seventy miles from the 
sea, and the spring tide rises nine feet. The whole course of 
the stream is about 1,800 miles. The drainage area of 
the Indus is 415,000 square miles. 

The rivers of the Punjab, combining before they reach 
the Indus, are the only important affluents of that river 
in the lower part of its course, and are delivered in 
a group of channels forming a kind of inland delta. 
The main streams, commencing with that most to the 
east, are the Sutlej, the Beas, the Bavi, the Chenab, and 
the Jelum. The Sutlej takes its rise in the interior of 
the Himalaya, in lat. 30° 8', long. 81° 53', a little north 
of ISTepaul, and not far from the source of the Indus. 
It first collects in the sacred lakes of Manasarovara and 
Bawan Hrad, and after its emergence from these, soon 
becomes an important stream. It only receives its name 
of Sutlej at some distance from this point, and after 
having received several feeders. At first it is a raging 
torrent, falling in some places 150 feet in a mile. It 
receives the Li or Sjpiti river, a principal tribute, and 
emerges to the wild mountain country at a level of about 
8,000 feet above the sea. It then runs, at first south- 
west, and afterwards west, with a very great declivity,, 
passing between the sources of the Beas, one of its prin- 
cipal confluents, and of the great Eiver Jumna. It then 
continues, without large contributions, passing through 
several of the small states known as the Hill States, until 
it enters the plains of the Punjab at Bupur. Beyond 
this point it is navigable at all seasons. About 100 
miles lower down it is joined by the Beas, whose stream 
is wider and larger than that of the Sutlej, but whose 
course is entirely through the lower ranges of the moun- 
tains, and is much shorter. The length of the Sutlej,. 
from its source to the Beas, is 550 miles. Below this 
junction the river runs 300 miles, under the name of 
Gara 9 to its confluence with the combined streams of 



12 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



the Chenab and the Jelum. The Eavi enters the Chenab 
below the confluence of these two streams, but before they 
enter the Sutlej. The Ravi takes its rise in the Hill 
States, a little west of the Beas, and has an exceedingly 
tortuous course through the plains of the Punjab, which 
it traverses through precipitous banks, and is deep, but 
not wide. From Lahore, which it passes, it continues 200 
miles in a direct line (but 380, including windings) to the 
Chenab, which it enters by three mouths. Its total length 
is about 450 miles, without including windings. 

The Chenab is the largest of the five rivers that traverse 
the Punjab. It rises, in Cashmere, 13,000 feet above the 
sea, and receives several tributaries before entering the 
Punjab. It is navigable for timber rafts before leaving 
Cashmere. Down to its junction with the Jelum it has 
a course of 605 miles, and is a vast and important stream 
at all seasons. The Jelum or Bekut, the most western 
of the great rivers of the Punjab, also rises in Cashmere, 
and drains the valley of Cashmere. It passes through 
several lakes, and is navigable for a long distance. It 
leaves the mountains about 250 miles from its source, and 
enters the plain of the Punjab where it joins the Chenab, 
after a further course of nearly 200 miles. Below the 
confluence the Chenab receives the name of Tromba till 
the Sutlej is reached, after which the name given to the 
combined waters till they enter the Indus is the Punjnud. 

2. The Ganges. — This river was formerly considered to 
originate in a glacier of the Eastern Himalaya, at an 
elevation of about 14,000 feet above the sea, in the British 
territory of Gurwal, in lat. 30° 54', long. 79° 7'. The 
stream near this source is called the Baghiretti. Another 
stream yielding a large volume of water, and called the 
AlvJmanda, is, however, now generally regarded as the 
principal. Both these drain valleys of the Himalaya, a 
little south of the feeders of the Indus and Sutlej. De- 
scending at first very rapidly, it issues from the mountains 
at Suki (lat. 30° 59', long. 78° 45'), at the height of 
7,608 feet above the sea, and thence continues with a SE. 
course, receiving the Ramgunga and a few small feeders, 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



chiefly from the left bank, till at Allahabad, 670 miles 
from its mountain sources, it receives the Jumna, a tribu- 
tary almost superior in importance to the Ganges itself, 
and bringing water from the north-west and west, besides 
draining the table-land of Malwa in the south-west. From 
Allahabad to Benares (140 miles) the combined stream of 
the Ganges and Jumna meanders through vast plains, its 
volume of water being subject to enormous and rapid 
change from the influence of floods. In this part of its 
course its mean discharge has been estimated at 250,000 
cubic feet of water per second. Near Benares it receives 
the Gumti, and a little below the Gagra river, both from 
the north, and the Sone river from the south. Beyond 
these the Gunduck and the Kosi, both from the north, 
are the only considerable streams till the waters of the 
Ganges mingle with those of the Bramaputra, and both 
make their way, by innumerable channels, to the sea. 
The branches of the Ganges, near its mouth, form a com- 
plicated system called the Sunderbunds, the combined 
delta of the Ganges and Bramaputra (see p. 60). This 
delta is 180 miles in width from east to west, and 200 
miles from north to south. The Bagarati and the Jellinglii 
are the main branches that form the Hoogly. The Mutla 
is the principal navigable branch of the Ganges, and on 
it is the town of Mutla, or Port Canning. The total 
length of the Ganges is 1,500 miles, and it is navigable 
for boats for 1,300 miles of its course. A great and rapid 
tidal wave, or tore, rushes in from the sea, where it is 
sometimes ten feet high, and at Calcutta this wave is 
sometimes five feet. 

The Jumna rises in the Hill States, on the south- 
western side of the mountains that supply water to the 
upper streams of the Ganges, and not far from the course 
of the Upper Sutlej. It receives, in its progress through 
the mountain country, a number of small streams, and 
soon becomes a great river. It is, however, a torrential 
stream, not well adapted to navigation; constantly re- 
ceiving accessions from both sides, and generally shallow 
and rocky. After a course of 860 miles it unites with 



14. 



GEOGKAPHY OF INDIA. 



the Ganges at Allahabad, bringing nearly the same 
volume of water. The Jumna water, though clear as 
crystal, is less palatable and wholesome than that of 
the comparatively mnddy stream, the Ganges. 

The Chumbul is an important tributary of the Jumna. 
It rises in Malwa, 2,000 feet above the sea, among a group 
of summits of the Yindya range. It soon becomes a 
considerable stream, and receives tributaries of impor- 
tance. Further down it passes through magnificent 
scenery ; and at length, after expanding into a lake, falls, 
in a succession of rapids, a total height of abont 200 feet. 
Eelow the rapids, at the city of Kota, 260 miles from 
the source, it is a large deep stream, very difficult to cross, 
and with a large volume of water, but not very navigable. 
It enters the Jumna after a conrse of 570 miles. The 
Kali-Sind also rises in Malwa, and has a conrse of abont 
260 miles to the Jumna, receiving many small tributaries. 
The Betwa rises in Bopal, and has a course of 360 miles 
to the Jumna. It has a rocky bed, and is not navigable. 
It is an enormous river during the rains. 

The Gumti is a stream, valuable for navigation and 
irrigation, rising in the district of Shajehanpore at 
about 520 feet above the sea, running past Lucknow as a 
navigable stream, and reaching the Ganges, a little below 
Benares, after a course of nearly 500 miles, chiefly through 
the territory of Oude. The Gagra rises in the British dis- 
trict of Kumaon, near the Tibet frontier, at an elevation 
between 17,000 and 18,000 feet. It soon receives several 
torrents, and becomes a considerable stream where it 
enters the territory of Oude. Up to this point it is called 
the Kali or Sarju. It passes the town of Oude, where 
it is from one to three miles in breadth, sending off very 
numerous lateral branches. Further down it receives the 
River Rapti, and finally enters the Ganges a little above 
Patna, after a course of 600 miles, and with a volume of 
water bearing a comparison with that stream both in 
breadth and rapidity, and sometimes in depth. It is not 
very navigable. The Sone rises in the high table-land of 
£fagpur, near the source of the INerbudda, and after a 



O ENSEAL DESCRIPTION. 



15 



course of 465 miles enters the Ganges nearly opposite the 
month of the Gagra. The bed of the stream is in some 
places two miles wide, and is filled during the periodical 
rains. The river is not navigable. The Gunduck is 
another important tributary. It comes in from the 
north, and is a grand river, taking its rise in Tibet, 
flowing through the wild valleys of the Himalaya, and 
entering the Ganges near Patna, its course being about 
400 miles. It is not only a large stream, but is navigable 
for a considerable distance. After the Gunduck the Cosy, 
or Kosy, is the only large feeder of the Ganges above the 
delta. It rises in jSTepaul, among the snowy peaks of the 
Himalaya, and soon becomes a torrent, issuing from the 
mountains as a first-class stream, nowhere fordable in 
ordinary years. It descends by three cataracts, unlike 
; most of the Indian rivers. The total length of course is 
only 325 miles, but it is everywhere a large stream. In 
its lower part it sends off several branches, The Hoogly 
is the only remaining river of importance in the Ganges 
system. It is chiefly formed by the junction of two great 
branches of the Ganges ; but it also receives tributaries 
from the west, of which the Cossye and the Damuda are 
the largest. The former has a course of 240 miles. 

3. The Beamapltea. — The main branch of this river 
irises in Tibet, not far from the sources of the Indus and 
! the Sutlej ; and, under the name of the Sanjpu river, 
j has an easterly course of at least 1,600 miles. It then 
I turns south, entering Assam under the name of the 
Diliong river, and receiving the stream which is afterwards 
I regarded as the principal, though its course is much 
shorter. Passing through Assam, which it intersects, 
it receives many tributaries, occasionally branching, and 
giving rise to islands, some of them of very large dimen- 
i sions. After flowing in this manner westwards for several 
! hundred miles, it makes a circuit round the Garrow 
Hills, receiving the Tista from the north-west, and 
I then becomes dispersed in an infinite complication of 
I branches, of which the Kirtynassa is the principal. The 



16 



GEOGRAPHY OF I3DIA. 



Tista gives off an important branch named the AHree, 
called the Balasar near its mouth. "What remains of the 
stream enters the Bay of Bengal by the Megna, a channel 
parallel to that of the Ganges, at a short distance to the 
east, and forms, with the Ganges, a network of channels 
through the alluvial matter brought down by all the 
rivers. The Barak is a considerable feeder of the Megna. 
The various branches afford internal navigation throughout 
Bengal. The total length of the Bramaputra, measuring 
only from the eastern and shorter branch, is 933 miles ; 
but including the Sanpu amounts to 1,750 miles. The 
combined drainage area of the Ganges and Bramaputra 
is estimated at 580,000 square miles. 

4. The Irrawaddy. — This river also rises in the 
Snowy Himalaya, and flows, in a southerly direction, 
through the heart of the Burmese territories for nearly 
800 miles, till it reaches the British province of Pegu, 
after which it continues in a similar course for 270 miles, 
reaching the Bay of Beugal by several mouths, which 
form its delta. Although a very large river, having a 
course of nearly 1,100 miles, the Irrawaddy receives hardly 
any tributaries, and none of the smallest importance 
after entering British territory. Its branches in the 
lower part, although called rivers, have no independent 
sources. They are increased by torrents coming down in 
the wet season a few miles from the hill- sides, and thus 
greatly add to the volume of the water constantly pouring 
down from the melting snows of the mountains, where 
the ultimate and permanent sources exist. It was at one 
time supposed that the Sanpu river, the main branch of 
the Bramaputra, entered the Irrawaddy ; but it has been 
proved that this is not the case. 

5. The Nerbudda. — This stream rises in the high 
plateau of the Yindya mountains, between 3,000 and 
4,000 feet above the sea. It runs through a rugged 
country, with a very winding irregular course, for nearly 
200 miles to Jubbulpur, where it enters the district 
known as the Valley of the Nerbudda. From this point 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION, 



17 



its course is nearly west, in a direct line to the sea, for 
.600 miles, scarcely any tributaries of the smallest 
importance being received, and the stream being little 
available for navigation. 

6. The God avery. — This river rises on the eastern 
declivity of the Western Ghats, near Kassic, only fifty 
miles from the shores of the Arabian Sea, and crosses the 
Nizam's territory in an easterly direction, receiving at 
intervals considerable streams, both from the north and 
south, and conveying the drainage of the southern slope 
of the Yindya range, as well as the eastern side of the 
"Western Ghats. The principal tributaries are a group 
comprising the Wein Gunga, the Payne Gunga, and the 
Wurda, coming in from the north. The combined stream 
is called the Pranhita. The Manjara is a large tributary 
from the south. The Godavery breaks through the Eastern 
Ghats with an even channel, and, entering the alluvial 
country on the Coromandel coast, diverges into two 
branches, forming a delta. After running through this 
flat projecting tongue of land for fifty-five miles, the 
river enters the Bay of Bengal, after a total course of 
900 miles. The delta lands are greatly enriched by 
periodical inundations. The total drainage area of the 
Godavery is about 100,000 square miles. The Wein 
Gunga rises in the Mahadeo mountains, 1,850 feet 
above the sea. Eunning to the east and south for 
140 miles, it enters the Kagpur territory, and, at 340 
miles from its source, it receives the Wurda. Its 
total course is about 440 miles. The Wurda is a 
stream having a total length of 250 miles, receiving, 
about 180 miles from its source, the Payne Gunga, 
a river of about the same magnitude, and conveying 
into the Wein Gunga a stream always considerable, 
and sometimes during the rainy season exceedingly large. 
It is navigable in the wet season 100 miles above its 
mouth. The Payne Gunga has a course of 320 miles, from 
Candeish, through the Mzam's territory, to the Wurda. 

7. The Kistna, or Krishna, rises on the eastern side 

2 



18 



GEOGRAPHY OF LNDIA. 



of the Western Ghats, about 4,500 feet above the sea, in 
lat. 18° 1' ; long. 73° 41', about forty miles from the shores 
of the Arabian Sea. After running about 160 miles to 
the SE., it receives the Wwrna, and after continuing its 
course for 200 miles further, it reaches the Nizam's ter- 
ritory, running chiefly through plains. After this it 
receives several tributaries, some of them of considerable 
importance. Its channel is generally deep, so that it 
cannot be used for irrigation without canals. Like the 
Godavery, it breaks through the Eastern Ghats to reach 
the alluvial plains on the Coromandel coast, which it 
enters by a wide estuary, not much to the south of the 
mouths of the Godavery. The total course of the Kistna 
is about 800 miles. It is hardly navigable. Among the 
tributaries to the Kistna are the Beema, rising, in the 
district of Poona, 3,000 feet above the sea, and having a 
total course of 500 miles, passing several important towns, 
and the Tumbudra, or Tungabudra, running 420 miles 
through teak forests, and capable of being employed for 
the navigation of rafts at all seasons. 

8. The Catjveey, a considerable river of Southern 
India, rises in Coorg, and forms the boundary between 
Coorg and Mysore, through which state it flows for some 
distance, running east and south-east to the neighbour- 
hood of Trichinopoly, where it opens out into a large 
delta, seventy miles in length from the apex to the sea, 
and having a base of eighty miles, emptying into the sea 
by two main channels, the Goleroon and the Cauvery, of 
which the Coleroon is the principal. Total length of 
course 472 miles. The river passes from the table-land 
of Mysore to the low country by two falls, the upper 
being 370 feet, and the lower 460. During the inundations 
the vast body of water passing over these falls, and the 
fine scenery adjacent, produce magnificent views. The 
Hennavutty, the Cubbany, and the Bowani are tribu- 
taries, the latter coming from the jSTeilgherries. 

9. The Tapti. — A stream of some magnitude, running 
westward through the dominions of Sindia, in Central 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



19 



India, and the territory of Gwalior, and falling into the 
Bay of Cambay a little south of the Nerbudda, after 
a course of 440 miles. It is only navigable to a short 
distance, and receives no considerable tributaries. 

10. The Mahanuddy. — A considerable stream, receiving 
the drainage of an important district on the eastern side 
of India, south of Bengal, and having a total course of 
520 miles. It receives two tributaries of some magnitude, 
and enters the sea near Cuttack by a delta. From July 
to February it is navigable for boats for 400 miles, and 
during the rainy season it delivers an enormous quantity 
of flood water into the Bay of Bengal. 

Besides these, there are many other streams of smaller 
importance, torrents during the rainy season, and nearly 
or quite dry at other times. Among them are (11) 
The Braminy, a small stream rising in the district of 
Palamow, and running south and east through the states 
of Orissa to Cuttack, entering the Bay of Bengal, after a 
course of about 400 miles, near Point Palmyras. (12) 
The Pennar, called generally the Northern Pennar. A 
considerable stream, rising in Mysore, receiving several 
tributaries, and conveying a large body of water into the 
Bay of Bengal, a little north of Madras, after running 
355 miles. (13) The Polar, another stream rising in 
Mysore, and running into the Bay of Bengal, after a 
course of 225 miles. (14) The Myhi, or Mhye, rising in 
Malwa 1,850 feet above the sea, and running 350 miles 
into the Gulf of Cambay. It is very shallow, though 
never stagnant. (15) The Luni, in Western India, enter- 
ing the Bunn of Cutch, after running south-west 320 
miles. (16) The JSabur Mutti, in Guzerat, entering the 
Gulf of Cambay, running south 200 miles. (17) The 
Bunas s, entering the Bunn of Cutch, after running south- 
west 180 miles. 

Lakes and Lagoons. — India has very few lakes, and 
none of them are of any magnitude, proportioned to the 
lofty mountain chain forming its northern boundary. 

2 * 



20 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



There are, however, on and near the coast, a number 01 
lagoons, some of them large, and not without importance 
in reference to inland navigation. Most of them are of 
water either permanently salt, or only rendered brackish 
during the rainy season. By far the largest lagoon is 
the Runn of Cutch, a singular expanse of low flat land, 
sometimes overflowed, described as part of the territory of 
Cutch, to which it properly belongs.* The lagoons, called 
" backwaters" on the Malabar coast, have a total length 
of 200 miles, and are also interesting physical phenomena 
belonging to the district in which they occur.f On the 
east coast there are a number of lagoons. Cliilka, on the 
Orissa coast, measures forty-two miles in length, and is 
fifteen miles across in some places.^ It is salt. Lake 
Pulicat, on the coast of the Carnatic, is thirty-three miles 
by eleven, and is also salt. Lake Colair, in the Northern 
Circars, is a shallow sheet of water, about 160 square 
miles in area. All these are near the coast. In 
Bajputana are three sheets of water, one of them, 
Samhur, is fifty miles in circuit, and is salt. It is dried 
by evaporation during summer, and the salt removed for 
sale. The two others (Deedwana and Sirr) are smaller. 
In Sind there is a small lake, and in Cashmere is Manasa 
Bui, said to be one of the most beautiful lakes in exist- 
ence. There are three beautiful lakes beyond the Hima- 
laya, and a small one at Nyni Tal. 

Climate. — The characteristic of the Indian climates 
may be described in one word — heat. Throughout a large 
part of the peninsula the sun is scorching for three 
months of the year ; the wind is hot, the land is parched, 
the streams, except the largest, are dried up. The hot 
season commences in March, and continues till June. The 
rains brought by the south-west monsoon then set in, and 
continue with intermission till October. There is then 
temperate weather till the end of February. 

But in so large a country as India, it must not be sup- 



* See p. 194. t See pp. 223, 234. + See p. 216. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



21 



posed that the climate is everywhere the same. Yery 
extensive tracts consist of table-land at a considerable 
elevation above the sea, where the extreme heats are 
moderated. Other large tracts are mountain sides, ren- 
dered temperate by their great height. Other tracts, 
again, are low, sheltered, and covered with thick vegetation, 
and are unfit for human residence. There are thus deli- 
cious temperate climates in the hilly regions and on the 
lower slopes of the high mountains, and a region of per- 
petual snow, above and amongst which is no life. The 
highest and most extreme temperature is met with in the 
Northern Oircars and in the Camatic. In the table-land of 
Central India the climate is moderate. In the plains of 
Delhi, 800 feet above the sea, the ground is parched in 
summer, and the heat very great ; but the cold of winter 
is also pretty severe. In Upper India it is dry, and the 
changes of temperature are rapid and considerable. Hot 
winds, like blasts from a furnace, blow during three 
months, and in winter there is intense cold, with a hot 
sun at noon. Bengal is less exposed to extreme changes. 
The climate is moist and warm ; but hot winds are un- 
known in summer, and frost is equally little felt in 
winter. The moisture, however, is oppressive for several 
months. The mean temperature at Calcutta is 82°, and 
this is the case also in Bombay. At Madras it is 84°, 
and in the table-land of Mysore, at the height of 7,000 
feet, it is 56°. 

The monsoons greatly influence the climate of India. 
These periodical winds are produced by the action of the 
sun heating the land of India during certain seasons, and 
modifying the trade winds, which would otherwise blow 
steadily from the north-east. The trade winds are thus 
diverted, and become south-west winds. On the western 
or Malabar coast these blow from April to August, the 
north-east wind prevailing during the rest of the year. 
On the eastern coast the monsoon is later and less steady; 
land breezes, occasionally lasting twenty-four or forty- 
eight hours, sometimes interfering with the monsoon. The 



22 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



opening and breaking up of the monsoons are eveiwwhere 
accompanied by storms and hurricanes. During the pre- 
valence of the south-west monsoon, the south-western 
coast is deluged with rain, the quantity falling amounting 
in some places to several hundred inches. Much of 
Southern India is, however, ill supplied with water ; and 
famines, the result of drought, are not unusual through- 
out the peninsula. Generally, the eastern coast and the 
eastern provinces receive but little of the rain brought by 
the south-west monsoon ; but the heaviest recorded rainfall 
in the world takes place at Cherra Punji, a town in 
Assam, in the Cossya Hills, 4,500 feet above the sea, and 
exceedingly healthy. The Northern Circars exhibit some 
peculiarities of climate. To the north of the Godavery a 
westerly wind, accompanied by moderate showers, begins 
about the middle of June; about the middle or latter 
part of August the rain becomes violent and irregular, 
and continues so till the month of October, when the 
wind shifts to the north-east, and stormy weather 
occurs. The temperature continues moderate, with little 
rain, till the middle of March, when the hot season com- 
mences. South of the Godavery the climate is somewhat 
different. During January and February a strong wind 
blows along the shore from the south; and as sea 
breezes set in every day, the temperature is moderate. 
In March the west wind, blowing over a loose parched 
soil, produces a most oppressive degree of heat, the 
thermometer rising to 95° in the house, and seldom 
falling below 90°. 

Vegetable and Animal Life. — India is very rich in 
natural productions of all kinds. Among the principal 
trees are the teak, admirable for ship-building ; the cocoa- 
nut-tree, every part of which is valuable, the fruit serving 
as food, the husk for cordage, the wood for water-pipes, 
beams, and rafters. The bamboo is largely employed in 
scaffolding, and for baskets and mats. The banyan, tama- 
rind, mango, palmyra and other palms, sandal, and ebony, 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



23 



all abound. The sal, the sissoo, and the babul, are useful 
trees. In the Himalayas are pines of various kinds and 
great value, of which the deodara is now familiar in 
England; besides oak, and other European forest trees. 
The hills are covered with forests, producing drugs of 
various kinds, dyes, and gums. The mahowa is a valu- 
able tree, whose flower is exported and used as food, be- 
sides being distilled for a spirit. On the coast and to some 
distance inland cotton is largely grown. Rice is grown 
on the banks of the Lower Ganges, in the Central Pro- 
vinces, in the Punjab, and all round the sea- coast of the 
peninsula. Millet and wheat are grown in the north- 
western provinces of Bengal. The peasantry of the 
Dec can feed on poor grains called jo war, bajra, and raggi. 
Extensive tracts of land are appropriated to the pro- 
duction of articles of export ; these include, besides the 
articles already mentioned, sugar-cane, tea, coffee, indigo, 
opium, tobacco, oil seeds, flax, and hemp. Pepper and 
cardamoms are largely cultivated on the west coast, and 
ginger, capsicum, cumin, sarsaparilla, anise, benzoin, cam- 
phor, coriander, and turmeric, are common field produce. 

Among vegetables are yams, sweet potatoes, bunjals, 
gourds, cucumbers, and the common English kinds, such 
as potatoes, beans of various kinds, carrots, onions, garlic, 
spinach, and radishes. The chief fruits are plantains or 
bananas, mangos, almonds, dates, tamarinds, guavas, 
jacks, melons, grapes, pomegranates, pine-apples, peaches, 
strawberries, oranges, lemons, citron, lime, figs, &c. 
Apples are without flavour, and pears and plums do not 
succeed. The cultivation of tea in Assam is very impor- 
tant, and rapidly increasing. Coffee is largely grown in 
Ceylon, the ISTeilgherries, and elsewhere. Innumerable 
flowers, sweet-scented and beautiful, spangle the fields and 
gardens, and several species bloom even in the least likely 
places. The roses of Gazipur, from which the atta of roses 
and rose-water are obtained, have a world-wide celebrity. 

The zoology of India is not less interesting than its 
botany. The forests contain a variety of wild animals, of 



24 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



which the elephant is the most remarkable. The Bengal 
elephant is the largest. The rhinoceros, wild buffalo, and 
bear, all inhabit the forests. Tigers, leopards, panthers, 
wild boars, hyaenas, wol es, foxes, and jackals, squirrel, 
porcupine, hedgehog, and monkeys, abound both in forest 
and jungle, and even infest the underwood and brushwood 
close to civilized and cultivated lands. Lions, though 
widely distributed in the north, especially in Eajputana 
and Guzerat, are more limited. The camel is in the sandy 
regions of the north-west, the wild ass in great numbers 
traverses the great Indian desert. Deer, of many species 
and varieties, are found in the mountains and forests 
as well as the plains. The Yak, or Tartar ox ; the Indian, 
or humped cow ; the Cashmere goat, and some varieties 
of sheep, are important. Birds of the parrot tribe, vul- 
tures, hawks, falcons, herons, cranes, storks* flamingoes, 
peafowl and other fowls, pheasants, geese, swans, pigeons, 
ducks, and many other kinds, are infinitely common. Hep- 
tiles are numerous and remarkable. Crocodiles and alli- 
gators, large serpents, small and poisonous serpents, 
tortoises, and many others, are common, some on land, 
some in the rivers and estuaries. Sharks infest the 
mouths of rivers and the sea-coast, while numerous varie- 
ties of fine kinds of fishes are common in the rivers and 
receptacles. Insect life is marvellously rich and varied in 
some parts of India. 

Mineral Resourc&S. — India is rich in minerals, and 
yields some of peculiar value and interest. Of stony 
minerals most of the gems or precious stones are found, 
some abundantly, some almost exclusively, others of sin- 
gular beauty and excellence. Diamonds of the largest 
size and finest water ; rubies and sapphires, and emeralds, 
all of extraordinary size and value, were very abundant,, 
and were accumulated by the princes before the arrival 
of the English. They are now much more rare. There 
are still, however, localities regularly searched for these 
productions. A large variety of gems of less value, and 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



25 



an infinite variety of the commoner kinds, are to be found 
in many of the river beds. Of the valuable stones that 
can hardly be ranked as gems, the variety is also very 
great. Jaspers, agates, cornelians, garnets, lapis lazuli* 
rock crystal, and many forms of quartz, are examples. 
Next to these may be named beautiful and valuable 
marbles and excellent building stone. Salt and saltpetre 
are both abundantly present. Coal, the most valuable of 
all the earthy minerals, has recently been proved to exist 
in so many parts of the country, that, though not yet 
very largely worked, it must soon become one of the great 
resources, and the foundation of many industries. Among 
other places it is found on the southern slope of the Hima- 
laya, in Burdwan, in Palamow, in the Nerbudda districts, 
in Sylhet, Assam (at Cherra Punji), Berar, Bewa (Bun- 
delcund), Cuttack, and Cutch. Of metals, gold is found in 
Mysore and in many streams, but the quantity is not 
large; tin is abundant in the Tenasserim provinces; 
silver, copper, and lead are known to exist; and iron is 
almost everywhere. But of the useful metals, except iron, 
the quantity is not known to be large anywhere, and the 
country cannot be said to be rich in them. 

Population, and Eaces of Men. — India includes a vast 
variety of different peoples, of more or less mixed race, 
some aboriginal, but for the most part immigrated. The 
less accessible parts are still inhabited by hordes of bar- 
barians, hardly removed from the lowest forms of savage 
life, while the coast, the plains, and the great river valleys, 
have been the seat of civilization of the highest oriental 
type from time immemorial — certainly long before the 
western nations had emerged from barbarism. Owing to 
incursions of conquering races at different times, and the 
gradual, but imperfect, amalgamation that has taken 
place, there are thus a certain number of prominent 
and important groups, and numerous others altogether 
local. The great majority are, as they have long been, 
Hindus, professing some one of the various forms of 



26 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

Hindu idolatry. The Mahomedans, much more modern, 
are very numerous and influential. 

In number, the total population of the peninsula is 
now estimated at 200,000,000. Little dependence, how- 
ever, can be placed on this estimate, as every attempt at 
numbering the people in the different provinces is met by 
opposition, arising from ignorance, from superstition, and 
from a determination to deceive that seems altogether 
impossible to overcome. The difference is so great, that, 
in the case of Madras, a census on one occasion made the 
population 600,000, and, a few years afterwards, when it 
was known to be increased, the number was returned 
at 400,000. 

There are marked differences in appearance among the 
native races in different parts of the peninsula, and these 
depend partly on race, and partly, no doubt, on climate. 
The inhabitants of Northern and North- Western India, 
especially the mountaineers, are tall fine men, well de- 
veloped, manly, and of more than average intellect. 
They often exhibit energy, and, occasionally, the higher 
moral qualities. They make excellent soldiers, and are 
ingenious in certain manufactures and handicrafts, espe- 
cially in the working of metals and stone. They are 
usually of fair complexion. The same general description 
applies, with some marked exceptions, to the inhabitants 
of the mountain districts in the other parts of India, 
though they are less tall. On the other hand, the people 
dwelling in the valley of the Ganges, and, generally, the 
dwellers in the lower plains and river valleys near the 
mouth of the stream, are lower in stature, darker in 
colour, less developed physically, less sincere and honest, 
and less favourable specimens of the human family. 
The Bengalis, however, stand intellectually among the 
first of the Indian races. The natives of Bengal and 
the Deccan are remarkable for their dark colour, timid, 
cringing, and superstitious character. On the other 
hand, some of the tribes in the west, especially the 
people of Sind and the Banias of Guzerat, are very 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



27 



handsome. All the races are simple in their habits, 
active, and capable of enduring much fatigue; the fea- 
tures are delicate, the limbs well formed, the eyes ex- 
pressive, the hair fine and generally black, the skin soft and 
polished. Of the different races, the Bengalis, though 
weak in body and wanting in moral courage, are most 
capable of considerable and rapid advance in the ordinary 
arts of civilized life. Their intellects are quick, and there 
is a certain amount of cunning natural to them which 
makes up for their timidity. The Mahrattas are bold, 
active, and industrious. The natives of the Upper Pro- 
vinces are brave, generous, and humane. The following 
brief notice of the various peoples found in India will be 
useful. They are arranged alphabetically. 

Armenians. — Merchants wandering through India, and 
settled in the principal towns, chiefly refugees from former 
Persian persecution. Besides Armenians are Arabs, who 
trade from the Eed Sea and Persian Gulf. 

Badahs. — Hereditary thieves, inhabiting the forests 
north of Oude and the banks of the ChumbuL They live 
a nomadic life, constantly shifting their villages. 

Bajicurs. — The gipseys of India, chiefly met with in 
the Upper Provinces. 

Banias. — Merchants in Guzerat; quiet and well be- 
haved. 

Banjaras. — Travelling merchants, living in tents, and 
following armies. They are sometimes called Ludanas. 

Banras. — Tribes separated from the Newars of ISTepaul, 
and following many of the customs of the Botias. 

Bats. — Wandering minstrels, in Guzerat and elsewhere. 

Batties. — Thieves from the desert between Eajputana 
and the Indus. 

Bheels. — Eude native tribes, thought to be the original 
inhabitants of Central India, now inhabiting the hilly 
parts of Guzerat and Malwa, and also the hills along the 
JSTerbudda and the Tipti. They are expert bowmen. 

Boras. — Mahomedan traders in Guzerat and the Dec- 
can, resembling J ews in features and character. 



28 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

Uotias. — Tartar tribes occupying Botan, and found 
among the hills as far as Kumaon. They are small in 
stature, quiet, and industrious, but filthy in their habits. 
1 Chariins. — A race of carriers and cattle-dealers; they 
are sometimes hired for protection. 

Coles. — Aboriginal tribes, inhabiting the northern 
part of Orissa. — They are also called Hos, and are 
semi-barbarous, but hospitable, and show a love of truth, 
honesty, and willingness to oblige. 

Coolies. — The indigenous tribes of the Western Ghats. 
They are hard-working, but ferocious. 

Cossyas, or Kasyas. — A race of tall, powerful, well- 
formed dark people, found in the Cossya Hills, to the 
east of Bengal. They are peaceful, honest, and in- 
dustrious. 

Daudputras. — A fair and handsome Mahomedan race, 
who came into India from the west, and took forcible 
possession of the land they now hold. 

Denwars. — The husbandmen and fishermen of Western 
Nepaul. 

Garangs. — A pastoral nomadic tribe in Nepaul, some- 
times becoming miners or traders. They are Buddhists. 

Garrows. — A strong, hardy, and powerful people, in- 
habiting the hills to the east of Bengal. They are mild, 
honest, and faithful, and follow agricultural pursuits. 

Goojurs. — An aboriginal race inhabiting the Punjab. 

Gonds. — A savage people in a part of Central India 
formerly called Grondwana. They are bloodthirsty, cruel, 
and revengeful, and resemble the African negroes. They 
are armed with axes and arrows. 

GoorJcas, or Gurkhas — A Mongol race dominant in 
2sepaul, and found also in the hill countries to the west. 
They make excellent soldiers, being short, sturdy fellows, 
hardy, brave, and enterprising. 

Hos.— {See Coles.) 

Jarejas. — The ruling class in Cutch. They are robust 
and warlike, but proud, cruel, and dissipated. 

Jots. — A turbulent race, probably from Turkestan, 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



29 



occupying a large part of the North- Western Provinces. 
They are short, dark, and forbidding. 

Jews. — They are numerous in Western India. Those 
of Bombay (Beni-Israel) are of higher consideration than 
the others. At Cochin there are white and dark Jews, the 
latter regarded as slaves to the former (see p. 222). 

Kataris, or Katodis. — An outcast race in the Northern 
Concan, held in abhorrence by the Bramins. 

Katties. — Natives of Katiwar in Guzerat. A half- 
civilized people, formerly robbers and pirates, but now 
greatly reduced. 

Konds. — Tribes inhabiting the central part of Orissa. 
They are partly civilized, and practise agriculture. They 
are polytheists, and till lately sacrificed human victims. 
They are an intelligent race, robust and muscular, and 
have a strong love of independence, but they are vindic- 
tive, and addicted to drunkenness. 

Kotars. — An industrious race inhabiting the Neil- 
gherries (see p. 215). 

KuMes. — A wild tribe inhabiting the hills north-east 
of Chittagong. They are also called Lunctas. 

Kurmis. — Cultivators in Cawnpur and the Doab, famed 
for their industry and peaceful habits. 

Ludanas. — (See Banjaras.) 

Mahrattas. — A numerous and powerful race, originally 
occupying the north-western part of the Deccan. 

Mairs. — The inhabitants of a part of the Aravalli 
mountains in Bajputana. They are a branch of one of 
the original races of India, and are hereditary robbers. 

Maravas. — An ancient people occupying a strip of land 
on the southern coast, near Cape Comorin. 

MecMs. — Inhabitants of the forest portion of the Terai, 
from the Bramaputra to the Konkeina in Upper Assam. 
They are industrious and honest. In religion they are 
followers of Siva, but have no caste. 

Moplays, also called Manilas. — The Mahomedan in- 
habitants of Malabar. They are merchants, and are 
wealthy and intelligent (see p. 222). 



30 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Mags. — The indigenous people of Arracan. They are 
short in stature, and are hardy, trustworthy, and harmless. 

JSFairs. — The aristocracy of Malabar. They were for- 
merly' soldiers, but are now engaged in handicraft. 

Namburis. — (See p. 236.) 

Nayu'ks. — A wild tribe, dwelling in the jungles between 
the Myhi and the I^erbudda. They are idolaters. 

Neivars. — The original inhabitants of the fertile part of 
Nepaul proper, before the Goorka conquest. They are 
Buddhists. They are strong, peaceable, ingenious, and in- 
dustrious, and chiefly engaged in agricultural work. 

Oorias. — The original inhabitants of western Orissa. 
They are timid, effeminate, and dissolute, but honest and 
industrious. 

Paharis. — Hill tribes, especially those inhabiting the 
Eajmahal Hills, and the hill country between Bagulpur 
and Burdwan. These are a short, thickset, sturdy 
people, idle and dirty, but truthful. 

Parsees. — The descendants of a large colony of fire- 
worshippers, who left Persia and settled in Guzerat and 
Bombay, to avoid Moslem persecution. Many of them 
are now rich merchants, ship-owners, and land-owners. 
Others are shopkeepers, artizans, and domestic servants. 
They are wealthy, hospitable, and liberal, especially to 
their own people. They expose their dead to be devoured 
by birds or consumed by the elements. 

Patans. — An Affgan race inhabiting Bopal, the Pun- 
jab frontier, and other parts of Hindustan. 

Povindas. — A hardy race of Affgans, trading in winter 
and tending sheep in summer. 

Rajputs. — The dominant people of iNorth- Western 
India, and descendants of the ancient Hindu princes. 
They are tall, vigorous, and athletic, but revengeful and 
proud. 

Bamuses. — A predatory tribe near Poona and Sattara. 
They believe in destiny, and have no fear of law or 
punishment. 

Bohillas. — A people of Affgan descent, occupying the 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



31 



country east of Delhi. They are tall, handsome, and 
intelligent, but ferocious, and not to be trusted. 

Saurias, or S auras. — A savage, but harmless and 
peaceful race, inhabiting the southern part of Orissa. 

Shekaivattees. — A tribe of predatory Rajputs, occupy- 
ing the desert north of Jeypur. 

Sikhs. — A religious community occupying the Punjab 
and adjacent countries. They are tall, robust, and athletic. 
Their occupation is chiefly warlike. 

Sontals. — A primitive people inhabiting a part of the 
Lower Provinces of Bengal. They are very uncouth, 
and wear hardly any dress, but make excellent navvies. 
They go about armed with bows and arrows, and dwell in 
the wildest and least penetrable jungles. 

Sudas. — A rude people, chiefly shepherds, occupy- 
ing the Thur, or Great Desert, and living in a state 
of great privation and misery. They sell their daughters 
to the Mahomedans, and to the Jarejas of Cutch. 

Thugs. — A confederation of murderers in Central 
India, greatly reduced by the severe measures of the 
British government. They worship the goddess Kali. 

Tiars. — Cultivators on the Malabar coast, much de- 
spised by the other inhabitants. 

Tudas, or Tundavers. — A small nomadic tribe occupy- 
ing the highest valleys of the ISTeilgherries. They are 
tall, athletic, and bold, but quiet and honest. They are 
not Hindus, and have no recognized form of governments 
They have large herds of buffaloes. 

TJrias. — (See Oorias.) 

Wagheas. — A predatory tribe of Rajputs in Katiwar. 

Waralis. — A wild idolatrous tribe, inhabiting the 
jungles and forests of the northern Concan. 

Yanadis. — A wild savage race inhabiting the country 
behind Nellore, on the Coromandel coast. 

Language. — The languages used in India may be 
referred to four great families ; (1) the Semitic ; (2) the 
Tamulian; (3) the Indo-Chinese, and (4) the Indo-Ger- 



32 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



manic. The Semitic includes Arabic, Persian, and 
Turkish, none of which are strictly Indian languages, 
though through them an Arabic and Persian element 
has been introduced in certain dialects. They are there- 
fore of comparatively small importance. The Turanian 
family is represented in India by a number of important 
languages. They are chiefly used in the south and east 
of the peninsula, and in the Burman empire. Thus the 
Mon dialect is spoken in Pegu ; the Goncl in the wild in- 
accessible country beyond Orissa, between Bengal and 
the Nizam's dominions ; Telugu in Madras ; Ganarese in 
Mysore; Malayalma on the Malabar coast and Travan- 
core; and Tamil on the Coromandel coast and in the 
south-eastern districts of the Madras Presidency. The 
Tamil is spoken by about ten millions of population, and 
its literature dates back to about the eighth century of 
the Christian era. The Telugu is four centuries later. It 
is spoken by fourteen millions. Canarese is the language 
of five millions, and Malayalma of two and a half millions. 

The Tibetan and Indo-Chinese languages are spoken 
chiefly in the valleys of the Himalaya, the north-eastern 
provinces, and the Burman States, Assam, however, not 
included. Botan has a special language of this family, 
so also have Munipur, Tippera, and Arracan. 

The Indo- Germanic is by very far the most important 
group of languages used in India, at least one hundred 
and twenty millions of persons using some one of its 
various forms. There are eleven distinct forms in use, 
besides some mixed forms that have grown up in various 
parts of the country. Of these, Hindi and Urdu, the 
latter of which is the usual official language and general 
medium of communication, are beyond all comparison 
the most important, and are spoken by more than sixty 
milUons of human beings. 

The parent of these languages is the Sanskrit, and 
its earliest known form is the language of the Vedas, or 
sacred books of the Hindus, of which the Rig Yeda is 
the oldest. Out of this grew classical Sanskrit, which 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



33 



was succeeded by Prakrit, the form spoken by trie common 
people, and Pali, trie sacred language of Buddhism. The 
following are the chief languages of this class now spoken : 
(1) Hindi, the language of North- Western and Central 
Asia ; (2) Bengali, that of the eastern provinces of Bengal. 
In addition to sixty millions speaking Hindi and Urdu, 
are twenty millions making use of Bengali. (3) Punjabi, 
spoken by sixteen millions, inhabitants of the Punjab; 
(4) Malwatti, by about ten millions of the inhabitants 
of Western India and the western part of the Nizam's 
dominions; (5) Guzerati, spoken by about six millions 
in the peninsula of Katiwar and the adjacent country; 
(6) Sindi, by two millions of the inhabitants of Sind 
and the Lower Indus ; (7) Gashmiri, by three millions of 
the inhabitants of Cashmere ; (8) Uria, by about two 
millions of the inhabitants of the Golconda and Orissa 
coast and the kingdom of Orissa ; (9) Pushtu, by nearly 
a million of the people on the borders of Afghanistan ; 
(10) Parbattia, or Nejpaulese, by the ISTepaulese; (11) 
Assamese, by the inhabitants of Assam ; (12) Beluchi, by 
the inhabitants of Beluchistan. 

Religions. — About four-fifths of the vast population of 
India — comprising upwards of a hundred and fifty mil- 
lions of human beings more or less under British influence 
— are Hindus of some shade or other. They profess, at 
least, the religion of Brama, and, although subdivided 
into many sects, are more or less exclusively devoted to 
that form of worship. Braminism teaches theism, or 
the worship of one Supreme Being, to whom all others are 
subject. But worship is paid with more or less direct 
idolatrous feeling to Brama, the creative principle; 
Vishnu, the preserving principle ; and Siva, the destroy- 
ing principle. These are gods of a high order, and 
[subordinate to them are many lesser divinities regarded 
as goddesses. There is a goddess of learning and 
|3loquence (Saraswati); a goddess of wealth (IiaJtshmi); 
and the goddess Parvati, Bowani, or Burg a, names re23re- 

3 



GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA. 



senting the acting powers of evil and destruction. The 
Bramins have four sacred books (Veclas), each composed 
of two parts — one comprising forms of worship, and the 
other moral and religious instruction. They are supposed 
to date from about the fourteenth century before Christ. 
There are other sacred books (the Furanas), to a great 
extent legendary. 

Out of this pure theism much polytheism has risen, 
the inferior principles being deified, and made the objects 
of direct worship. There are thus special followers of 
Siva and Vishnu, among whom the believers in the 
incarnations of Vishnu are numerous and influential. 
The worshippers of Siva are chiefly members of the 
upper classes, especially in Mysore and the Mahratta 
Provinces. In some large districts, the worshippers of 
Vishnu are the most influential, especially in his human 
form, as Krishna, or Kistna. The history of the incar- 
nations {avatars) of Vishnu, or Kistna, is very curious, 
and occupies a large part of the sacred books. The 
Hindu religion assigns great efficacy to all religious 
services and the forms of devotion. The law of caste, by 
which all classes remain from father to son occupying the 
same pursuits in life, is one of the marked peculiarities of 
Eraminism. The consideration of sacredness, as belong- 
ing to certain animals, especially the bull and cow, is 
another feature. The transmigration of souls, the 
expiation of crimes by penance, and the existence of 
various places of punishment and reward, are other 
articles of faith. 

Buddhism is a form of religion much less prevalent 
in India now than formerly. The Buddhists do not 
acknowledge a Supreme Being, or rather they do 
not place any one Grod in the first rank, as greatly 
superior to other supposed gods. They believe in the 
eternity of matter, and the supremacy of intelligence as a 
property of matter. Budhas are beings (of whom there 
may be many) who have raised themselves by austerities 
of all kinds to a state of apathy, and then have evolved 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



35 



certain doctrines and sacred books. The last Budha lived 
in the sixth centnry before Christ. Of the two classes of 
Buddhists, the theists prevail in Nepaul, the atheists in 
Ceylon. They alike deny the authority of the sacred 
books of the Hindus, they do not acknowledge caste, 
have no respect for fire, but have great regard for animal 
life. They live much in monasteries. 

The Jainas, or Jains, are intermediate. They agree in 
most points with the Buddhists, but admit caste, and 
worship some of the Hindu deities in addition to their 
own saints. Their priests are of all castes. They are 
numerous in Guzerat, Bajputana, and Canara. Both. 
Jains and Buddhists use Pali as their sacred language. 
They date from the sixth century. 

The Sikhs, originally pure theists, have degenerated, 
and regard their founder as worthy of divine honours. 
They have no caste, believe in transmigration, and have 
regard for animal life, chiefly in reference to the cow. 
They date from the fifteenth century, their name meaning 
" disciple." Their founder was one Nanac, the Guru or 
leader of the sect. At first they were quiet and un- 
ostentatious ; but on the murder of their fourtli Guru, 
they drew the sword, and one sect commenced to acquire 
a temporal power, the ruler then taking the name of 
Sing, while the rest remained quiet under the name 
Kalsa. There are other sects, and they have sacred books. 
They are concentrated about Amritsur and Lahore. 

These are tne chief modifications of Hinduism. The 
other principal religion of India is that of Mahomed, 
founded in Arabia in the sixth century, and thoroughly 
established a century after. There are two principal 
sects; the JSunnis, who insist on the supremacy of 
Mahomed over all created beings, the right succession 
of the four first Caliphs or successors of Mahomed, and 
who acknowledge tradition ; and the JShias, who reject 
tradition, and regard Ali as the only rightful successor 
of Mahomed, and equal to him in dignity. 

Of other religions, the Parsees, the descendants of the 

3 * 



36 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



ancient Ghebers or fire-worshippers, are a numerous and 
wealthy class. The descendants of the earliest converts 
to Christianity exist in considerable nnmbers in Malabar 
and the Carnatic, nnder the name of Syrian Christians. 
They date back to a very early period of Christianity, 
and their doctrines are very simple. There are Roman 
Catholics in the Portuguese and French settlements, and 
Protestants of all denominations throughout the country, 
though in very small numbers compared with the whole 
population. 

Government. — The control of affairs throughout British 
India, with the exception of Ceylon, is vested in a high 
officer of State, entitled " the Governor-general, Viceroy 
of India." He is assisted by a Council, consisting of 
five Ordinary and some Extraordinary Members, including 
among the latter the Commander-in-Chief for the time 
being. Under the Governor- General are Governors of 
the Presidencies of Bombay and Madras, Lieutenant- 
Governors of the Lower Provinces of Bengal, of the 
North- Western Provinces and of the Punjab, and several 
Chief Commissioners. For administrative purposes, the 
whole country is divided into provinces, each province 
being governed by a Commissioner. There are two kinds 
of management of the provinces, one called regulation the 
other non-regulation {see p. 86). The provinces are 
generally subdivided into districts, over each of which is 
a Judge aud Collector, the latter being also a Magistrate. 
The various native states have resident Political Agents, 
but are generally supreme in their own dominions. 
Ceylon has a Governor appointed by the Crown, subject 
to the Colonial department in England. 

In India, the Government receives from the cultivator 
of the soil a certain jDortion of the produce as a tax. 
The tax is estimated and collected in three different ways. 
(1) The Zemindary system. The tax is fixed and col- 
lected from wealthy landholders, called Zemindars. It 
was introduced into Bengal in 1793, and prevails chiefly 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



37 



in the Lower Provinces of Bengal. The tax is easily col- 
lected, the revenue certain, and the landowner has the 
greatest interest in improving cultivation. (2) The Ryot- 
wary system. The Byots in India are the small culti- 
vators. The tax, according to this system, which pre- 
vails in Madras and Bombay, is nominally half the 
produce, but really much less, and cannot exceed a certain 
amount. Under this system, the lands are rated accord- 
ing to an estimate formed of their value, and remissions 
are made for bad seasons. It is more difficult to collect, 
and less fixed in amount, but is on the whole fairer, as 
there is less advantage to the large landholder, who, ac- 
cording to the Zemindary system, is a middleman who 
benefits greatly on both sides. (3) The Village system. 
In this case, the assessment is made for a whole village 
together, and the individual payments of each pro- 
prietor is a matter concerning which the Government 
takes no account. It prevails in the Central Provinces, 
the Worth- Western Provinces, and the Punjab. 

Revenue. — The revenue is derived, not only from the 
land-tax, which yields about one-half, but largely from 
the monopolies of salt and opium, which the Government 
buys of the grower and sells at a large profit. The salt 
monopoly, however, is abandoned in Bengal. In 1867-68, 
the revenue from the opium sales was nearly £9,000,000. 
The produce of the salt monopoly was then £5,726,093. 
There are also customs' dues, which yielded £2,578,632, 
excise £2,238,931, and stamps £2,578,632. The total 
revenue was £48,429,644. In 1868-9 the revenue was 
£49,192,007, and the expenditure (independent of guaran- 
teed railway interest) £48,493,440. 

Trade and Commerce. — The following are the princi- 
pal articles of raw produce exported from British India 
in 1865, arranged in order of value, and the mean annual 
value of the exports for five years ending 1865. Since 
then there have been causes of disturbance, and the 



38 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



result is less favourable. There are now in British India 
neither inland, transit, nor export duties, and there is no 
special encouragement for shipping in British bottoms. 
Ceylon is not included in the following statements : — 





Year 1864-5. 


Mean of five years 


Cotton 


£37,573,637 


. £21,952,622 


Opium 


"9,911,804 


. 10,780,130 


Bice 


5,573,537 


3,905,034 


Indigo 


1,860,14! 


1,855,439 


Seeds 


1,912,433 


1,754,194 


Silk 


1,165,901 


933,250 


Jute 


1,307,844 


902,463 


Hides and skins . 


725,236 


796,592 


Wool 


1,151,022 


773,221 


Sugar 


765,110 


727,511 


Coffee 


801,908 


555,652 


Tea* 


301,022 


228,087 



Means of Comniunieation.-— It is only within about 
thirty years that India has been supplied with means of 
communication in the interior ; f and it was not till 1850 
that any important progress was made in that direction. 
Up to that time the roads were mere tracks, the tra- 
velling of the wealthier persons being carried on in 
palanquins on men's shoulders, or on ponies, while the 
servants and tents followed on foot. Neither public 
coaches, waggons, nor passage-boats existed. There were 
no bridges, no canals, and still less were there railways 
or telegraphs. All these are creations of modern times, 
and are results of British government. There are now 
good roads across India, connecting all the large towns ; 
streams have been bridged, the navigation of rivers im- 
proved, and canals cut and rendered navigable. Of late 

* Nearly nine millions of pounds were exported in 1868. 

+ The first road of any length of which record exists is from 
Chittagong to Doadkundy (124 miles), open in 1810. The Grand 
Trunk road from Calcutta to Peshawur (1,423 miles) was com- 
menced in 1836. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



39 



years a complete system of railway lines has been 
planned, and to a great extent executed. Telegraphic 
communication has been secured, and each year millions 
of pounds sterling are expended in continuing and in- 
creasing the public works, of which roads and railways 
form so large a part. Steamers now ply on some of the 
great rivers, and between every port, from Kurrachi to 
Rangoon. The following outline will give an idea of the 
present state of railway communication, and the proposed 
enlargement of the system. 

1. East Indian Railway. — This line is completed from 
Howra (opposite Calcutta), by Burdwan (branch to coal- 
fields), Murshedabad (by a short branch), Rajmahal, 
Bagulpur, Dinapur, Benares, Mirzapur, Allahabad (branch 
to Jubbulpur), Cawnpur (branch to Lucknow), and Agra, 
to Delhi. The " Burdwan branch " will be a chord line 
connecting Burdwan with Lukheserai on the main line, 
crossing the coal-fields of Bengal, and saving 70 miles of 
distance from Calcutta to all places beyond Lukheserai. 
It is expected to be completed in 1870. The "Jubbulpur 
branch" (225 miles) will connect with the 1STE. branch of 
the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The total length of 
the line and branches will be 1,501J miles, of which 
1,3565- are opened. 

2. Oude and Rohilcund Railway. — The branch from 
Cawnpur to Lucknow (42 miles in length) it is proposed 
to connect under this name with a line reaching from 
Moradabad to Buxar on the Ganges, having branches to 
Allygur, Nyni Tal, Cawnpur, and Benares. The total 
length proposed is 672 miles. 

3, 4, 5. Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railways. — These are 
classed together, being under one management, and con- 
stituting portions of one enterprise, which is to unite the 
port of Kurrachi with the Punjab, and meet the East 
Indian Railway at Delhi. The first portion, " the Sind 
Railway," 109 miles in length, is completed. It connects 
Kurrachi with the Indus at Kotri, opposite Hydrabad. 
From this point there is steam navigation to Multan, 



40 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



where "the Punjab Eailway" commences. It passes 
through Lahore to Amritsur (246 miles) and has been 
completed for some time. At Amritsur " the Delhi line " 
commences : its length will be 320 miles, and passes 
through Umballa, Saharunpur, and Meerut. 174 miles 
are completed from Amritsu^. 

6. Lahore and Peshawur Eailway. — From Lahore a 
line to Peshawur (273 miles) is in construction by Go- 
vernment. 

7. Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Eailway. — 
This line runs north from Bombay, past Surat and 
Baroda, to Ahmedabad. It is proposed to continue it to 
Kaira in Guzerat, and by a line through Eajputana to 
Delhi. The total length at present in construction is 
312^ miles, only five miles being uncompleted. 

8. Eastern Bengal Eailway. — Starting from Calcutta, 
it passes north-east through Chinsura and Kishnagur 
to Kushtea, and is being extended to Goalunda. Total 
length, 159 miles, of which 114 are completed.' 

9. Calcutta and South Eastern. — A short line, 29 
miles in length, connecting Calcutta with Port Canning, 
on the Mutla branch of the Ganges. It is worked by the 
Eastern Bengal Eailway. 

10. Great Indian Peninsula Eailway. — This line com- 
mences from Bombay and runs to Calliani on the main land, 
a distance of 33J miles. Thence there are two main lines, 
one to the north-west and the other to the south-east. 
The former crossing the mountains by the Thull Ghat, 
passes Nassic, Bosawul (branch to ISTagpur), Kundwa, 
and ISTursingpur to Jubbulpur, where it meets the East 
Indian Eailway. At Hurd, a branch will be constructed 
to Mow and Indore. The south-eastern line, crossing 
the Bore Ghat, passes Poona and Sholapur, and is being 
continued through a part of the Nizam's dominions to 
Eaichur, where it meets the Madras Eailway. The total 
distances are l,266f miles, of which 873| are completed. 

11. Madras Eailway. — Leaving Madras, this line first 
reaches Arconum Junction (42J miles), whence there are 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



41 



two main lines, one north-west (341 miles), by Tripetty, 
Cuddapa and Gundacul to Raichur, where it will meet 
the Great Indian Peninsula line. At Gundacnl there is a 
branch to Bellaiy. Of this line, 185 miles out of Madras 
are completed, and 156 (from Gundacnl to Raichur) yet 
unopened. The south-west line, leaving Arconum, passes 
byYelloreand Salem to Erode Junction. Crossing the 
Cauvery, it then skirts the foot of the ISTeilgherries to 
Coimbatore, after which it crosses the Western Ghats, 
and reaches the Malabar coast at Beypur, near Calicut. 
Of this line, whose total length will be 528 miles, there 
are 492 already completed. 

12. Great Southern oe India Railway. — This line 
starts from Negapatam, on the Coromandel coast, and 
proceeds westwards to Tanjore and Trichinopoly, whence 
it follows the valley of the Cauvery to the Madras Rail- 
way at Erode (168 miles). It is intended to continue it 
through Southern India to Tinnevelly and Tuticorin. 

13. Ceylon Railway. — This line runs from Colombo 
northwards in an irregularly curved direction to Kandy, 
the former capital of the island in the interior. 

Canals and Irrigation Works— The physical configu- 
ration of India, and the climate that results from its 
geographical position, are such as to render cultivation 
and successful agriculture dependent almost entirely 
on the supply of water. Where water is- to be had, 
and is applied in a right way, there is hardly a limit 
to the luxuriance of the crops of all kinds. Without 
an ample supply of water at the right season, the 
whole surface of the land is a dry cheerless waste. 
To prevent this there are in each of the three Presidencies 
many large canals whose main object is to supply 
water for cultivation. There are also multitudes of 
reservoirs (tanks they are called in India), so that some 
of the rivers carry but little water to the sea, the chief 
proportion being kept back by dams and other contri- 
vances, and employed to fertilize the soil. In the Madras 
Presidency alone, there are said to be 53,000 tanks and 



42 GEOGRAPHY Or INDIA. 

channels in repair, and 10,000 out of repair, having pro- 
bably 30,000 miles of embankments. 1 * 

The most imposing works of this character, in point of 
magnitude, are the canals in the Punjab and the North- 
Western Provinces, consisting of the Bari Doab, the 
Eastern and Western Jumna, and the Ganges Canals, 
which are 565 miles, 130 miles, 440 miles, and 653 miles 
in length respectively. Besides the above, there are in 
the Punjab the Delhi and Gurgaon Irrigation Works, and 
a vast number of inundation canals, chiefly in the south- 
western portion of the province. These latter consist of 
channels, taken from the rivers, which are full of water 
during the latter part of the spring, the summer, and 
autumn, and are empty during the winter. The total 
length of these canals, taken from the Sutlej, Chenab 
and Indus rivers, is 1,233 miles. 

In the North- Western Provinces, besides those already 
named, are the Doon Canals, whose total length is 66 \ 
miles. There are also the Bohilcund Canals, and the 
Agra, the Jansi, and the Humirpur Irrigation Works. 

In Bombay, but few irrigation canals exist, and those 
only of the smallest class ; but in Sind, the delta of the 
Indus is scored with numerous inundation canals, the 
principal of which are the Eastern and Western Narra, 
the Gar, the Bigari, the Sukkur, and Shadadpur, the 
Eutali, the Aliwah, the IVEitrow, and the Thur Canals. 

In the Madras Presidency the principal canals are 
to be found in the deltas of the Godavery, the Kistna, 
and Coleroon rivers. Others take their water from the 
Palar, Pennar, and other rivers ; there is also a very im- 
portant work now approaching completion, constructed 



* Some idea may be had of the extent of these works, when it 
is known that in the neglected Ponairy tank (reservoir), in Trichi- 
nopoly, the water was kept in by thirty miles of embankments, 
including an area of sixty or eighty square miies. The Yeranum 
tank, still in use, has an area of thirty-five square miles, and twelve 
miles of embankments, and now, after enduring for a period almost 
fabulou?, yields an annual revenue of £12,000 to the Government. 



GENEKAL DESCRIPTION. 



43 



"by the Madras Irrigation and Canal Company. This 
canal, commencing on the Tungabudra river, at Sun- 
kasala, will give irrigation as well as navigation to the 
country between Sunkasala and the sea- coast at ISTellore. 

Among the canals at present under construction may 
be noticed the Sutlej Canal, which starts from the Sutlej 
at Bupur, re-entering the river again lower down at 
Ferozpur, having also branches extending into the Put- 
tiala State, and one which will join it with the Western 
Jumna Canal. The Agra Canal will be an extension of 
the Western Jumna from its terminus at Delhi to Agra. 
The Sone Canal project consists of a series of canals, 
deriving their water from the river Sone, and falling on 
either side of that river into the Ganges, extending in 
their range as far as Patna on the one hand, and Chunar 
on the other. Finally, a complete network of canals will 
furnish the means of irrigation to the provinces of Mid- 
napur, Orissa, and Cuttack, extending from Midnapur in 
the north to the Chilka Lake, near Ganjam. 

Political and Natural Divisions. — India is naturally 
divided into several regions by its systems of mountains^ 
table-lands, and river valleys. These do not exactly cor- 
respond with the political divisions, although they agree 
in a very great measure. The following arrangement and 
correlation may be useful : — 

Natural Divisions. Political Divisions. 

Mountain system of the \ T r> • r -o 

. J \ Lower Provinces of Ben- 

Himalaya i 

Lower Yalley of the Ganges f AT n -m x -?t 

_ _ J , „ ni s > .North - Eastern IN ative 

and Bramaputra Valley i gtates 

Irrawaddy Valley Bnrman States. 

Burman Coast. / 

Yalleys of Upper Ganges ^ Eorth- Western Provinces 

and Jumna I Oude 



Yalleys of the Sutlej and > Punjab 

Upper Indus \ Eajputana and Native 

The Thur, or Desert. / States. 



44 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Table Land of Malwa 
Northern Deccan 
Orissa Coast. 

Lower "Valley of the Indus 
Valleys of the Nerbudda 
Yindya Range 
Western Ghats. 

Eastern Ghats 
Southern Deccan. 

Ceylon. 



f Central Provinces 

I Hydrabad 

j Central India 

I. Orissa States. 

Sind, Guzerat and Cutch 
Bombay Districts. 

Madras Districts 
Mysore and Coorg 
Malabar States. 
Ceylon. 



Progress of British Power in India— The following 
tabular statement may be useful to the student for 
reference. 

1599. Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth to English merchants 
to trade with India. 

1601. Sailing of the first expedition to Sumatra. 

1602. Factory established at Bantam, in Java. 

1613. Permission granted from the Mogul to establish a factory in 
Surat. 

1634. Permission granted to trade with Bengal through Peepley, 

in Balasore, on the Orissa coast. 
1640. Fort St. George (afterward Madras) founded. 
1650. Hoogly factory erected, under privileges granted by Shah 

Jehan. 

1661. Company's charter renewed by Charles II. 

1668. Island of Bombay (given to Charles II., in 1664, by the 

Portuguese) transferred to the Company. 
1676. Mint at Bombay established, by permit: m of Charles II. 
1693. Charter of East India Company renewed a second time for 

twenty-one years. 
1698. Madras, with a territoiy of five miles along the shore, 

acquired. Fort William factory established, and a new 

Company incorporated. 
1700. Calcutta acquired from the son of Aurungzebe. 
1702. The two Companies united as "The United Company of 

Merchants trading to the East Indies." 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



45 



1711. East India Company organized in England for the political 
government of British possessions in India. 

1716. Important privileges granted by the Mogul Emperor and 
eighty-three towns purchased. 

1757. Battle of Plassy, securing Bengal. The " Twenty -four 
Pergunnas " acquired from the Nawab. 

1759. Masulipatam acquired from the Nizam. 

1761. The French expelled from the Deccan. Chittagong and 
Burdwan acquired from the Nawab of Bengal. 

1765. Bengal, Behar, and part of Orissa, granted by the Emperor 
of Delhi, in consideration of tribute. District round 
Madras obtained from the Nawab of the Carnatic. 

1767. Northern Circars granted by the Nizam. 

1772. Nawab pensioned, and Bengal taken possession of by the 

Company. 

1773. Government of India reorganized by Act of Parliament. 

1775. Benares acquired from the Yizier of Oude. 

1776. Island of Salsette taken from tbe Mahrattas. 

1781. Privileges of the East India Company confirmed for ten 
years. 

1784. Board of Control created. 

1786. Pulo Penang taken from the King of Quedah. 

1790. Large addition of territory obtained from Tippoo Sultan 

in Madras Presidency. 
1792. Malabar taken from Tippoo Sultan. Salem ceded. 

1799. Privileges of the Company confirmed for twenty years, the 

powers of the Board of Control being extended. Tan- 
jore, South Canara, Coimbatore, and other territories 
acquired in Madras Presidency. 

1800. Bellary and other places taken from the Nizam. 

1802. Carnatic taken under British administration. Allahabad, 

Cawnpur, Bundelcund, Futtepur, and a large part of 
the Doab ceded by the Government of Oude. 

1803. Dutch portions of Ceylon acquired. Mahratta war. Delhi 

taken. Shah Alum pensioned. Agra and other places 

ceded. Many districts ceded by Sindia. Cuttack taken. 
1805. Much of the territory of the Gfuicowar surrendered. 
1813. Privileges of East India Company reconfirmed for twenty 

years. Provision made for the Church of England in 

India. 

1815. Parts of Nepaul taken. Kingdom of Kandy, in Ceylon, 



10 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



secured. French possessions in India restored. The 
Dera Doon taken from the Goorkas. 

1816. Parts of Cutch and several districts in the NW. Provinces 

secured. 

1817. Peishwa conquered and pensioned, and territory annexed 

to Bombay. Large cessions exacted from Nagpur. 
Holkar's territory and Sindia brought under arrange- 
ment. Parts of Guicowar's territory added. Supremacy 
over Central Indian States secured. Cutch subsidized. 

1818. Candeish and Malwa acquired from the Holkar family, and 

Ajmere from Sindia. Poona, Concan, and South Mah- 
ratta annexed. Districts on theNerbudda, Sumbulpur, and 
Patna annexed. Bopal taken under British protection. 
1820. Lands in Southern Concan taken from the Rajah of Sawunt 
Warri. 

1824. Chittagong brought under British authority. Singapore 

taken from the Raja of Johore. 

1825. Malacca acquired from the Dutch. 

1826. Tenasserim provinces and Arracan conquered. Assam 

secured. 
1834. Coorg taken. 

1833. Upper Assam taken under British control. 
1840. Kurnul taken from the Nawab. 
1843. Sind taken from the Ameers of Sind. 
1845. Cashmere taken. Serampur and Tranquebar purchased 
of the Danish Government . 

1848. Sattara lapsed. 

1849. Punjab annexed. 

1852. Pegu and Martaban finally occupied. 

1853. Nizam's dominions regulated. Nagpur annexed. Berar 

assigned. Company confirmed in their possession only 
during pleasure. Council remodelled. 

1856. Oude annexed. 

1857. Great Rebellion. 

1858. Government of India transferred from East India Com- 

pany to the Crown. 

1859. Punjab and other territory reorganized, and placed under 

a Lieutenant-Governor. 

1861. Central Provinces organized. 

1862. British Burma organized. 
1866. Botan Dooars ceded. 



CHAPTER IT. 



ISTosthekn" India. — Eastern Division. 

Boundaries and subdivisions : — (1) The Loiver Provinces of 
Bengal. General Account. — Calcutta. Regulation Pro- 
vinces: Bagulpur Province — Burdwan Province — Chitta- 
gong Province — Cuttack Province — Dacca Province — Nuddea 
Province — Patna Province — Raj shay e Province. Non-regula- 
tion Provinces : Assam — Cooch-Behar. (2) British Burmah : 
Arracan — Pegu — Tenasserim and Martaban — Andaman 
Islands — Nicobar Islands. (3) Straits Settlements : Malacca 
— Penan g — Singapore — Wellesley Province. (4) Native States 
of North Eastern India : Botan — Munipore — Nepaul — 
Sikkim — Hill Tippera. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions of Northern India — 
The great valley of the Ganges and its tributaries, and 
the high lands that enclose it to the north and south, 
naturally form one of the principal divisions of the 
peninsula of India. The extension of this district 
towards the north-west into the valley of the Indus, and 
eastward into the valley of the Bramaputra, is both 
geographically and politically natural ; and if to these 
districts we add the territory acquired by England on the 
eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal and the adjacent 
islands, we obtain an idea of what it is convenient to 
call Northern India. 

The territory thus limited is still, however, enormously 
large, including nearly 480,000 square miles of country 
under British government, and needs subdivision. The 
western and north-western parts are, both politically and 
geographically, independent of the Lower Provinces of 



48 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Bengal. The country to the north-east and the states on 
the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal are also distinct, 
and the independent states to the extreme west form 
another natural division. There are, then, two groups 
of states that we may call North-E astern and North- 
Western India. 

Adopting this method of arrangement, the following 
general grouping of the whole of Northern India will be 
found convenient : — 

North-Eastern India. Area in 

square miles. 

1. Lower Provinces of Bengal . . .176,813 

2. British Burma . . . 90,070 

3. Straits Settlements . . . .1,575 

4. Native States of North-Eastern India . 95,477 

North- Western India. 

5. North-Western Provinces . . . 83,690 

6. Oude • . 22,456 

7. The Punjab -95,768 

8. Native States of North- Western India . 229,612 

9. Native States adjoining North- Western India. 

Except those marked Native States, all these divisions 
belong to British India. They are under the general 
rule of the Viceroy of India, assisted by three Lieutenant- 
Governors and several Commissioners. There is also a 
Governor of the Straits Settlements, who acts directly 
under the Crown. With very few exceptions, the native 
states are either under British protection, or their govern- 
ment is influenced and controlled by a British officer, 
entitled the Eesident, who acts as a political agent, and 
is responsible to the Viceroy. 

1. Lower Provinces oe Bengal. 

General Account. — These provinces include an area of 
176,813 square miles, with a population exceeding twenty 
millions. They reach from the extremity of the pro- 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



49 



vince of Pegu, in lat. 19° 15' 1ST., to the northern frontier 
of Assam, in lat. 28° 16' N. From west to east they extend 
from the south-eastern boundary of the district of Mirza- 
pur, in long. 83° 39' E., to the western frontier of Burma. 
They are bounded on the north by Nepaul, Sikkim, and 
Botan; on the north-east by Tibet; on the east by- 
Burma ; on the south by the Bay of Bengal and Pegu ; 
on the south-west by many petty independent states ; and 
on the west by the North-Western Provinces. Except part 
of Orissa and Chittagong, they are entirety situated in the 
basins of the Ganges and Bramaputra, comprising the 
lower valley and delta of those two streams. The climate 
is very moist, in consequence of the heavy periodical rains, 
the great heat, and the numerous swamps of the delta. 

The Lower Bengal provinces are nearly identical with 
the old provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa.* Under 



* Bengal was an independent kingdom in the fourteenth, cen- 
tury, but was brought under the rule of the Emperor of Delhi 
(the Great Mogul) in the sixteenth century. On the breaking- 
up of that great empire in the eighteenth century, there was a 
Nawab of Bengal ; and in 1765 the province was granted to the 
East India Company by the Emperor of Delhi. 

Behar was one of the great divisions of the empire of Delhi, of 
which the present British district of Gfaya was the southern part. 
The territory granted under this name included an extensive tract 
on both sides of the Ganges. 

Orissa. — The ancient kingdom thus named comprised the district 
of Cuttack and part of Midnapur, in the Presidency of Bengal, 
and a wild region to the west, between Cuttack and Nagpur. It 
consists of an extensive range of high land continued from the 
Eastern Ghats. It is inhabited by four races, the Oorias, the 
Coles, the Konds, and the Saurias. (See ante p. 28-31.) The cli- 
mate is very unhealthy, and the country is much infested with 
wild beasts, which include some of the largest, the rarest, and the 
most interesting in India. Orissa has lately become a district of 
painful interest, owing to the terrible famine of 1868. Being one 
of the old divisions of the country no longer recognized politically, 
it can only be referred to in this incidental manner. 

4 



50 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



the supreme authority of the Viceroy of India, they are 
subject to the direct control of a Lieutenant-Governor 
and Council. The revenue collected in 1867-8 amounted 
to £3,721,062. The value of the commerce (chiefly car- 
ried on with the United Kingdom, France, and China) 
amounted, in 1865-6, to — imports ^23,000,000; exports, 
.£28,000,000. The ports are, Calcutta, Chittagong, Bala- 
sore, and Cuttack. The luxuriance of vegetation in the 
valley of the Ganges is nowhere surpassed. Coal, iron, 
and limestone are obtained from the hills, but the low 
lands are covered with a great thickness of black soil and 
sand, entirely without stones. Agriculture is the chief 
occupation of the people, but the manufactures are many 
and important. 

The East Indian and other Railways, as explained in 
p. 39, cross the most important parts of these provinces. 
There are also good roads, and steamboats on the great 
rivers. Telegraphic communication is complete. 

This territory is under the control of a Lieutenant- 
Governor, subordinate to the Viceroy of India. It con- 
tains eight regulation, and three non-regulation pro- 
vinces {see note, p. 86). The native states within the 
district are Sikkim, Munipore, Hill Tippera, and the 
group called the Cuttack Mehals. The regulation pro- 
vince of Chota JsTagpur and the C attack Mehals are 
described in another chapter, as forming part of Central 
India (see pp. 155, 176).* 

Education is actively carried on under the superin- 
tendence of Government officers throughout Bengal. The 
number of Government schools and colleges in 1867-8 
was 3,411, and that of pupils 145,142, showing a large 
and rapid increase. Besides these were 2,196 schools not 
receiving state assistance, having 65,212 pupils. 

For purposes of administration, the eight regulation 

* Bengal, as now constituted, including all these provinces and 
states, has a total area of 240,642 square miles, and a population 

of 37i millions. 



XOHTH-EASTERN IXDIA. 



51 



provinces are subdivided into thirty-six districts. Each 
province is governed by a Commissioner, under whom each 
district is managed by a Magistrate Collector. The non- 
regnlation provinces form three commissionerships, with 
nineteen districts. Each district is controlled by a 
Deputy Commissioner, except the Garrow Hills, which is 
managed by an Assistant Commissioner. 

Calcutta, the chief and residential city, not only of 
Bengal, bnt of British India, is situated on the left bank 
of the Hoogly (the western branch of the Ganges), about 
100 miles from the Bay of Bengal, in lat. 22° 34/ 1ST. ; long. 
88° 20' E. It comprises about eight square miles, with a 
population of 377,924. It extends along the river bank from 
north to south about four and a half miles, and its breadth is 
one and a half mile. It is altogether a modern town, built 
since the year 1700, upon the site of a number of villages 
assigned to the East India Company, and its name is de- 
rived from one of these villages, where was a famous temple 
dedicated to Kali, the goddess of Evil. It is divided into two 
portions, the northern or native town having narrow dirty 
crowded streets and poor houses. In the other portion 
the houses are palaces, the streets spacious, and there 
are numerous public buildings. The native merchants, 
chiefly Hindus, but including many Parsees, are very 
wealthy. South of the European town is Fort "William, 
considered to surpass every other fortress in India in 
strength and regularity : its foundations were laid by 
Clive, after the battle of Plassy. It is capable of holding 
15,000 men. Opposite Calcutta, on the right bank of the 
Hoogly, is Howra, the station of the East India Eailway. 

The climate of Calcutta is peculiar, and is subject to 
great extremes of moisture and heat. The different 
months have been thus characterized : — January. Air 
serene and cold. Winds !N". and "N.W. ; fog in early morn- 
ing, and heavy dews at night. Therm, min. 47° ; mar. 
75°; mean, 66°. February. Pleasant and cool till the 
middle; wind then changes to S. and SE. Therm. 65° 
to 82° ; mean, 69°. March. The hot season begins : the 

4 * 



52 



GEOGRAPHY OF IXDIA. 



sun is powerful and the days warm. Strong winds from 
the sonth. Storms from the NW. towards middle and 
end, accompanied by violent gusts, with clouds of dust, 
followed by torrents of rain. Therm. 73° to 86° ; mean, 80°. 
April. South wind moderating the heat till the 20th, 
when the wind becomes hot. Thunderstorms and rain. 
Therm. 78° to 91°; mean, .85°. May very disagreeable. 
Air close, still, and oppressive. 2STights very sultry. 
"Wind light, and from south, but storms frequent, with 
thunder and rain. Therm. 81° to 93° ; mean, 85°. June 
to September. This is the rainy season. In the second 
week of June the wind veers round to the east, and after 
several days of close muggy weather, clouds accumulating 
constantly, and thunder heard in the evening, the 
rains commence, and continue, with little intermission, 
till October. The atmosphere during these months is 
cooler, and the weather is pleasant, but the damp is ex- 
treme, and everything gets mouldy. Therm. 77° to 88° or 
90°. Mean, in June, 83°; in July, 81°; August and 
September, 82°. October is a variable month. The rains 
are breaking up and the winds changing. The days are 
sultry, but the mornings and the evenings are cool, the 
air becomes clear, and night dews recommence. Mean 
temp. 79°. November. Delightfully fair and pleasant. 
Cold sharp winds blow from the north or west. The air 
is dry, clear, pure, and calm, with no clouds. Therm, in 
shade, 66° to 86° ; mean, 74°. December. Middle of the 
day clear and fine, but fogs at night, and early morning 
hot and disagreeable. North and west winds prevail, 
blowing sharply. Therm. 56° to 78°; mean, 66°. 

Alipur, four miles SE. of Fort William, is rather a large 
village than a town, and contains the official residence of 
the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. It is healthy and 
dry. Dum Bum, eight miles NE. of Calcutta, is a town in 
which is a cannon foundry. It was formerly head-quarters 
of the artillery, and is now a large station, where 2,000 
men can be accommodated. There is an arsenal and 
laboratory for the instruction of gunners. At Barrackpur 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



(16 miles to the 1ST.) is the country house of the Viceroy, 
and a large military cantonment. Mutla, or Port Canning, 
is a new town, 29 miles south of Calcutta by railway, 
on the Mutla branch of the Ganges. 

Regulation Provinces. 

Bagulpur. — A province south of the eastern ex- 
tremity of Nepaul, in the middle of the Ganges Yalley, 
comprising a wide tract, reaching from the foot of the 
Himalaya to the Ganges, and thence to the hilly tracts to 
the south. Its area is about 17,000 square miles, and its 
population is estimated at 5,000,000. 

Bagulpur (lat. 24° 17'— 26° 20'; long. 86° 15'— 88° 3'; 
area, 5,804 square miles. — A large district (the central 
portion of the province) partly flat, partly hilly, crossed 
by the Ganges and the East Indian Railway. A narrow 
strip of about one-fourth of the area lies to the north of 
the river. A large part is covered with impenetrable 
jungle, infested by wild beasts. Numerous torrents rush 
down the hills in the rainy season. Much rice is grown. 
Sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo are widely cultivated. 
Wheat and various kinds of millet yield large crops, There 
are manufactures in silk (Tussa), iron, copper, glass, and 
pottery. Bagulpur, the chief town, is on the right bank 
of the Ganges. It is a poor place, badly built, except the 
modern structures by the English Government. ISTear it 
are two round towers, seventy feet high, and Hindu 
sculptures on rocks in the bed of the river. Distance 
NW. from Calcutta, 268 miles. Bajmalial is a large and 
ancient but ruined town on the Ganges, on the main 
line of the East Indian Eailway. Distance N¥. from 
Calcutta, 196 miles. 

Mongyr (lat. 24° 20'— 26° V; long. 85° 40—86° 50'; 
area, 3,593 square miles. — A small but healthy district, 
situated on the Ganges, in the western part of the pro- 
vince, and intersected by several streams. The southern 
part is high. It grows much rice and wheat, and by irri- 
gation it yields abundant crops of opium, oilseeds, indigo, 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



sugar, and tobacco. Mongyr, the chief town, is ancient, 
thriving, and prettily placed on the right bank of the 
Ganges. It has a large fort on a prominent rock, and is 
a military station. Cheap fire-arms and hardware are 
made here. Distance NW. from Calcutta, 304 miles. 

Purnea (lat. 25° 9'— 26° 37'; long. 86° 48'— 88° 23'; 
area, 5,320 sq. m. — A level depressed tract of country, on 
the north side of the Granges, adjacent Nepaul, traversed 
by numerous streams, affording great advantages of irri- 
gation and water-carriage. There are many shallow ponds 
on the surface. It is stormy in spring, hot and dry in 
summer, and cold in winter. Earthquakes are common. 
Much rice is grown, besides maize and esculent vegetables. 
Tobacco and betel are also raised. Purnea, the chief 
town (pop* 50,000), is neat and well built, and is about 
three miles square, but much of it consists of plantations 
and gardens. Distance NW. from Calcutta, 283 miles. 

Sontal Pergunnas (lat. 23° 40'— 25° 10' ; long. 86° 50'— 
88° ; area 2,000 sq. m.). — Wild jungle, inhabited by Son- 
tals. These pergunnas or subdistricts are chiefly in the SE. 
extremity of Bagulpur province, and are crossed by the East 
Indian Railway. Some are in the district of Beerboom. 

Burdwail. — A flat expanse, liable to floods, traversed 
by the Hoogly river, and some of its tributaries and 
branches. It extends back for some distance from the 
river, and is crossed by many streams. The north-eastern 
part is crossed by the East Indian Railway and the Rani- 
gunge branch. Area, 14,200 sq. m. Population, 6,000,000. 

Bancora (lat. 22° 53—23° 46 r ; long. 87°— 87° 39'; area, 
1,349 sq. m.). — A small district, level, but with gentle undu- 
lations, crossed by navigable streams, and containing a valu- 
able coal-field. Bancora, 101 miles NW. of Calcutta, has a 
bazaar and spacious building for travellers. Banigunge, on 
the Damuda, is close to the rich and valuable Burdwan 
coal-field. Bishewpur is another town in this district. 

Beerboom (lat. 23° 32'— 24° 40'; long. 86° 25' — 
88° 30' ; area, 3,114 sq. m. ; pop. 1,000,000).— It occupies 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



55 



the upper part of the provirjce, and is hilly. It is crossed 
by several torrents, and yields large quantities of coal and 
iron ore in the hills in the southern and western parts. 
Surrul is a town near the left bank of the Aji river. 

Burclwan (lat. 22° 52'— 23° 40'; long. 87° 21'— 88° 23'; 
area, 2,693 sq. m. ; pop. 2,000,000).— A district crossed by 
numerous streams, branches of the Hoogly, and subject 
to inundation. It is exceedingly productive, and many of 
the proprietors are very wealthy. It contains both coal 
and iron, though much of the coal bearing this name is 
raised in Bancora. As much as 308 miles of embank- 
ments (bunds) have been constructed to keep out the inun- 
dations. The district is crossed by many roads and by the 
railway. Bwdwan is the chief town. It is situated on 
the Damuda river, and is on the road from Calcutta to 
Benares. It is small and unimportant. Distance NW. 
from Calcutta, 74 miles. Nudclea (60 miles 1ST. of Cal- 
cutta) is a very ancient city on the right bank of the 
great western branch of the Ganges. 

Hoogly (lat. 22° 13'— 23° 13'; long. 87° 34/— 88° 30'; 
area, 2,007 sq. m.). — A district, low and level in the 
eastern part, and very fertile, but subject to ague and fever 
during the rains. February is cool and pleasant. There 
is much salt in the soil, which yields enormous crops. 
Chandanagore, sl French settlement, is in this district (see 
p. 238). Chinsura is a flourishing town with a college. 
Hoogly, 27 miles N". of Calcutta, is showy, and has many 
modern buildings, a quay, and fine streets. 

Midnapur (lat. 21° 41—22° 57' ; long. 86° 36 —87° 59' ; 
area, 5,032 sq. m.). — A flat district, crossed by numerous 
watercourses, extremely hot in summer, but pleasant from 
October to February. It has a sea- coast, where salt is 
manufactured largely. Midnapur, the chief town, 68 
miles W. of Calcutta, has a good and well supplied 
bazaar. 

Chittagong^ — A province, including the three districts 
of Tippera, Bulloa, and Chittagong. Of these, the two 



56 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



first lie east of the delta of the Ganges, and the latter on 
the northern extremity of the Arracan coast. 

Bulloa and Tvppera (lat. 22° 20—24° 20'; long. 
90° 30'— 91° 12'; area, 4,629 sq.m.; pop. 1,500,000) are 
on the Bramapntra. The former (area 2,174 sq. m.) in- 
cludes some considerable islands at the month of the 
Megna river (the combined Ganges and Bramapntra). 
There are towns in each, bnt neither is important. 

OhUtagong (lat, 20° 45'— 23° 25' ; long. 91° 32'— 93°; 
area, 10,916 sq.m.). — This district includes fertile portions 
on the coast, watered by several rivers. In the interior 
it is mountainous, and inhabited by wild tribes. There 
are large forests abounding with elephants. Salt is made 
on the coast. Ghittagong, the chief town, is situated on 
an estuary navigable for large vessels. It is foggy and 
unhealthy. Population, 120,000. 

Cuttack. — This province lies on the north-west of the 
Bay of Bengal, between the mouths of the Ganges and the 
Madras Presidency, and has an extensive sea-board, called 
the Orissa coast (see p. 3), much of it dangerous from 
sand-banks derived from the Ganges. It is well watered 
by many streams, and includes a large lagoon (Chilka). 
It extends over an area of 7,600 square miles, the northern 
part consisting of the delta of the Mahanuddy. The interior 
of the country, behind the delta, is hilly. The Cuttach 
Mehals are adjacent native states, tributary to the British 
Government [see p. 176). 

Balasore (lat. 20° 40—21°; long. 86° 20' — 87° 40'; 
area, 1,876 sq. m.). — This district is a narrow strip of land 
on the bay called Balasore Eoads, near the Hoogly 
mouths, between the Subrunrika and the Dumra rivers* 
It is the northernmost of the three districts of Cuttack. 
Balasore, the chief town, is near the coast, on a small 
stream, and is the seaport of the province of Cuttack. It is 
provided with dry docks ; but large ships cannot enter. The 
situation of the town is unfavourable, as it is on a low 
dreary plain, deformed by unsightly sand-hills. It was 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



57 



formerly occupied by the Portuguese. Distance SW. from 
Calcutta, 116 miles ; 1ST. from Madras, 730 miles. 

Cuttack (lat. 20°— 21° 5' ; long. 85° 52'— 87° 5'; area, 
3,061 sq. m.). — The middle of the three districts of the 
province of Cuttack. It consists almost entirely of 
the united deltas of the Mahanuddy and Dumra. The 
rivers are low and swampy, and abound with alligators. 
The climate is very unhealthy. Cuttack, the chief town, 
occupies a commanding position, but its fortifications are 
ruinous. It is, however, large, and has some manufactures. 
The population is 40,000; distance SW. from Calcutta, 
220 miles. There is a resident British chaplain. 

Puri, or Juggernath (lat. 19° 40' — 20° 26'; long. 
85° 8'— 86° 25' ; area, 2,697 sq. m.).— The southernmost 
of the three districts of Cuttack. It includes the country 
south of the delta of the Mahanuddy. The climate is dry 
and healthy. The town of Juggernath is on the coast. 
It is one of the great strongholds of Hindu superstition. 
Every inch of it is holy, and the principal streets are com- 
posed of religious establishments. The great Temple of 
Juggernath rises majestically at the southern extremity to 
a height of 200 feet from the ground. It dates from the 
end of the twelfth century. For a long time the Govern- 
ment supported the scandalous abominations practised 
during the great annual procession. The town contains 
about 30,000 inhabitants. It is distant 250 miles SW. of 
Calcutta. ISTear Canarac, 19 miles JSTW. of Juggernath, 
was the celebrated "Black Pagoda/' a temple of the sun. 
The Chilka lake, partly in this district, is one of the 
largest in India (see note, p. 216). 

Dacca. — This province includes a very large tract of 
country on the left or eastern bank of the Bramaputra ; 
area, 19,000 sq. m. ; population, about three millions. The 
greater part of it is an uninterrupted level, with much 
jungle, but exceedingly fertile. 

Backergunge (lat. 22° 2'— 23° 13'; long. 89° 41'— 91°; 
area, 4,439 sq. m.). A healthy but level tract, watered by the 



58 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Ganges, the Lower Bramaputra, and many other streams. 
The jungles abound with wild animals, and the soil is a 
rich alluvial mud, constantly shifting, and yielding rice, 
sugar, cotton, wheat, oilseeds, and pulse. There are many 
tidal creeks and lagoons. This district forms part of the 
Sunderbunds. Burrisol, the chief town, is on a branch of 
the Ganges, 11 miles "N. of Backer gauge, which is a town 
125 miles from Calcutta. Both are small. 

Cachar (area, 7,542 sq. m.). — Cachar is divided into two 
parts, North and South, of which the former was till 
lately considered a part of Assam. South Cachar is 
crossed by the Barak, a navigable stream. It grows 
coffee and sugar, and large tracts are covered by the 
mulberry. There are many tigers on the plains. Tea 
is the principal production. Sylchar is the principal 
place. Assalu is a town in the northern part. 

Dacca (lat. 23° 12—24° 17'; long. 90° IV— 90° 58'; 
area, 3,218 sq. m. ; pop. 600,000). — A level depressed tract 
generally, the southern and most depressed part being en- 
tirely under rice cultivation. It is crossed by many streams 
and offsets of the Ganges. The climate is damp and un- 
healthy during the hot season (March to June inclusive). 
The mean annual temperature at noon is 79° ; even during 
the cool season the air is often loaded with fog. Rice, 
sugar, betel, hemp, indigo, and cotton, are grown. Dacca 
is the chief town; it is situated on a wide stream, 
and is considered healthy. It is four miles in length and 
one and a quarter wide ; but great part of it is a mass 
of ruins, overgrown with jungle, infested with tigers and 
snakes. There are, however, modern public buildings of 
some importance. The town was formerly celebrated for 
fine muslin made for the royal wardrobe of Delhi ; but all 
its trades and manufactures are now departed. Distance 
NE. from Calcutta, 150 miles. There is a chaplain at 
Dacca. 

Furridpur (lat. 23° 3'— 24° 5'; long. 89° 30'— 90° 15'; 
area, 1,634 sq. m. ; pop. 850,000). — An alluvial tract, low 
=and swampy in the southern and north-eastern parts, but 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



59 



rather more elevated in the north and north-western parts. 
It is crossed by many streams, tributaries to the Ganges, 
among which is the Barashi, or Chnndna, always navi- 
gable. The soil is rich. Sugar and rice are the most im- 
portant crops, but cotton, indigo, and oilseeds are grown. 
Cotton cloth is made here, and the merchants are wealthy. 
The town of Furridpur is large, and was formerly a resort 
of pirates, but now the place of residence of the Govern- 
ment officials. Distance, 115 miles from Calcutta. 

Mymensing (lat. 24° 4'— 25° 41'; long. 89° 28'— 91° 13'; 
area, 6,710 sq. m.). — The northern part is hilly, and both 
there and in the south-western part along the right bank 
of the Bramaputra there is much, jungle. The rest of 
the district is level, depressed, and marshy, and covered 
by lagoons. The climate is less unhealthy than in the 
southern part of Bengal, the weather being unsettled. 
There are three small towns. 

Silhet (lat. 24° 3—25° 12'; long. 91°— 92° 38'; area, 
4,981 sq. m.). — The northern part is a hilly, jungly tract, 
near the Cossya hills, inhabited by the wild Garrows, and 
on the east and south are similar tracts near the mountains 
of Cachar and Tipperah. The district is thus a basin, 
open towards the Bramaputra to the west, which is low, 
and subject to inundation, lasting from April to Novem- 
ber. There are many towns and villages built on mounds. 
The valleys are fertile and beautiful, and crossed by several 
streams. The climate is damp and cool, but not healthy. 
There is much, pasture-land. The chief place, Silhet, is a 
poor village, 260 miles NE. from Calcutta. It is the civil 
and military station of the province. 

Nuddea, or Presidency. — This province occupies the 
central portion of the great delta of the Ganges, whose 
base rests on the sea at the head of the Bay of Bengal, 
and whose vertex is the point where the Jellinghi Channel 
leaves the Ganges. It has a total area of about 15,000 
square miles. 

Jessore (lat. 22° 28'— 23° 46'; long. 88° 44'- 89° 55'; 



60 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



area, 3,71*2 sq. m.). — The surface is level and depressed, the 
climate fatal, the vegetation and wild animals exceedingly 
varied and interesting. The soil is generally fertile, and 
yields abundantly rice, indigo, oilseeds, sugar, tobacco, 
cocoa-nuts, areca-nuts, rye, pulse, hemp, turmeric, and 
many fruits. Mulberry-trees abound. The town of 
Jessore, seventy-seven miles JSTE. of Calcutta, is less un- 
healthy than formerly. It is the civil station, and con- 
tains important schools. There are several trading places 
in the district. 

NucUea (lat. 22° 49'— 24° 10'; long. 88° 9'— 89° ll 7 ; 
area, 3,304 sq. m.). — All that has been said of Jessore 
applies to this district. There are ready means of water 
communication, but few roads. The district is populous 
and productive. Kishnagur is the seat of the civil 
establishment and the chief town. It is sixty-four miles 
of Calcutta. It is noted for its manufacture of fine 
muslins, and also for the models, in a sort of cement, of 
the various castes and classes of Hindus, made formerly 
in large quantity. There is a Government college here. 
Plassy (96 miles N. of Calcutta), a town on the left bank 
of the Hoogly, is celebrated for the great and decisive 
battle fought near here on the 23rd of June, 1757, by 
650 European infantry and 150 artillerymen, with 2,100 
sepoys, besides a few Portuguese, against the Soubadar 
of Bengal, with 50,000 infantry, 18,000 cavalry, and forty 
French artillerymen. The English were commanded by 
Clive. The Soubadar was defeated, and a foundation laid 
for the British occupation of India. The Ganges now 
flows over the field of battle. Hurrisunhra is another 
town, 102 miles N. of Calcutta. 

Sumderlwnds (lat. 21° 12'— 22° 19'; long. 88° 5'— 90° 
16' ; area, 6,300 sq. m.). — This is the name given to 
the great alluvial group of islands forming the ex- 
tremity of the Ganges delta. It consists of a vast 
multitude of detached fragments of low marshy land, 
separated by narrow channels of brackish or salt water, 
affected by the tide, and formed by the deposition of mud 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



61 



brought down by the Ganges and Bramaputra. It is 
strictly an alluvial archipelago, and the whole area is 
overgrown by low wood, occasionally varied by fine timber, 
and inhabited more by tigers than by men. There are 
many wild buffaloes, wild swine, deer, and monkeys. A 
large part of the district is irreclaimable. Much salt is 
made from the sea- water on the shores, and very large 
tracts have been brought under cultivation, but the 
malaria during the south-west monsoon is very fatal; 
whole islands are sometimes swept away during a gale, 
and much of the surface is overflowed by periodical inun- 
dations. Mutla, or Port Canning (see p. 53), is the only 
town. The civil station is at Alijpur, in the Twenty-four 
Pergunnas. 

Twenty -four Pergunnas (lat. 21° 55' — 22° 48'; long. 
88° 6'— 88° 43'; area, 2,536 sq. m. ; pop. 700,000). So 
called from the territory originally ceded to the East 
India Company having contained twenty-four pergunnas, 
or subdistricts. It consists, to a great extent, of land 
within the delta of the Ganges, and is everywhere well 
watered by many rivers, all of which are branches of the 
Hoogly, which forms the western boundary of the tract. 
The northern portion is very rich, but the southern and 
eastern portions are covered with salt water and abound 
in jungles. The Sunderbunds, the swampy islets at the 
mouth of the Ganges, are to the east. Within the per- 
gunnahs is the city of Calcutta. The city and the places 
adjacent, Alipur, Dum Dum, and Barraclcpur, have been 
already described. (See p. 52.) 

Patlia. — An important province situated in the middle 
part of the valley of the Ganges. Its total area is 24,400 
square miles, and the population is estimated at ten 
millions. Some of its districts are to the north, and the 
others to the south of the Ganges. 

- Gaya or Behar (lat. 24° 12'— 25° 22'; long. 83° 25'— 
86° 6'; area, 5,372 sq. m.). — A well watered district, 
traversed by numerous rivers, and excessively sultry 



62 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



during early summer. The numerous torrents crossing 
it render the construction of roads difficult. Very fine 
rice is grown in large quantity. Wheat, barley, millets 
of various kinds, melons, gourds, and cucumbers are all 
abundant. The potato is successfully cultivated. The 
common European garden vegetables succeed well in the 
cold season. Opium, sugar, and cotton are important 
productions. Tobacco, betel, and indigo are also grown. 
There are several manufactures, among which are cotton, 
blankets, silks, carpets, tents, tape, thread, ropes, paper, 
torches, glass, coarse jewellery, coarse cutlery and hard- 
ware, turnery, leather, saddlery, ornaments in the precious 
metals, ink, soap, nitre, bricks, &c. Ardent spirits are 
distilled, dyeing is largely practised, perfumes are made 
from sandal-wood, roses, and jasmin. The town of Behar 
is a decayed place of 30,000 inhabitants. The original 
town is deserted, and the present is a collection of houses 
round its ruins. Gay a is the chief town. 

Patna (Int. 25° 3'— 25° 38'; long. 84° 45—86° 10', area, 
2,102 sq. m.). — This district is bounded on one side by 
the Ganges, which is there a mile wide, and has a rapid 
current, and on the west and north-west by the Eiver 
Sou, navigable for large craft. It is traversed by the 
Punpun and other streams. It is fertile and cultivated, 
producing excellent rice, opium, and fruits. The winters 
are mild, and the heat of summer great. It is well inter- 
sected by roads and is crossed by the railway. The town 
of Patna is the chief civil station, and comprises a fort 
enclosed by a rectangular wall, and large suburbs. It 
is an ancient city, and extends a mile and a half from 
east to west, along the right bank of the Ganges. The 
streets and houses are poor, but there are large markets 
and many mosques. The place is very hot in summer. 
The population is said to be nearly 300,000, chiefly 
Mahomedan ; distance from Calcutta, by land, 377 miles, 
by water, 464 miles. Near it is Bankijpur, the residence of 
the Government opium agent. Dinapur, some miles to 
the west, is an important military station on the right 



XORTH-EASTERX INDIA. 



63 



bank of the Ganges. The markets are well supplied. 
The barracks are very fine. 

tfa™m(lat.25°40'— 27°29 / ; long. 83° 55'— 85° 30'; area, 
6,185 sq. m.). — A level tract, with a gentle slope to the 
south-east, well watered, provided with some forest 
lands, which contain fine timber trees, and yielding large 
crops of sugar, grain of various kinds, tobacco, opium, 
indigo, and cotton. There is much salt made in some 
parts. Chwpra, on the north bank of the Granges, is the 
chief town, and contains many large handsome native 
houses, but only one street passable for carriages. The 
native town occupies a narrow swampy strip of low land. 
The civil station is outside the town. Distance from 
Benares, 118 miles ; from Patna, thirty miles ; popula- 
tion, 50,000. Bevelgunge is also on the Ganges. A great 
fair is held here. Aliganj has a good bazaar. The north- 
east division of the district of Sarun is Oliomvparan, 
whose chief town is Betiya, a populous town, ninety-five 
miles FW. of Patna. There is a good encampment place 
near, and supplies are abundant. 

Shahabad (lat. 24° 30'— 25° 46'; long. 83° 20—84° 56'; 
area, 4,385 sq. m.). — About a third part of this district is 
an irregular plateau, 500 feet above the valley of the 
Ganges, and 700 feet above the sea. The rest is an 
alluvial flat, on which much cotton, indigo, opium, and 
betel are grown. The climate is very sultry, and the rains 
heavy. Where the ground is inundated periodically by 
the Ganges, the soil is exceedingly rich. The Ganges forms 
a boundary for eighty-eight miles. JBuxar is an important 
town with a fort, situated in a commanding position. It 
is large and well built ; distance from Calcutta, by land, 
j 398 miles, by water, 566 miles. It is the principal grain 
mart in the collectorate, and is a railway station. Arra 
is a small town well supplied. There is a large and beau- 
tiful lake near the town. Jehanabad is also well supplied. 

Tirhut (lat. 25° 26'— 26° 42'; long. 84° 58'— 87° 11'; 
area, 6,343 sq. m.). — An undulating and beautiful tract, 
I with many groves, orchards, and woods on the banks of 



64 



GEOGRAPHY OF IXDIA. 



lakes and rivers. It receives its name from being bounded 
by three rivers, the Ganges, the Gunduck, and the Kosy. 
The climate is mild and moist ; the thermometer range is 
small, and much of the district singularly healthy to 
Europeans. In the northern part, however, near the 
" Terai," at the base of the sub-Himalaya, there is much 
malaria and dysentery {see p. 100). The soil is rich, 
but often saturated with salt, extracted in large quantity 
by the natives. It is rich in fruits, among which are 
mango, li-chi, loquat, shaddock, guava, custard- apple, 
love-apple, tamarind, soap-nut, and many of those 
common in Europe. The country is traversed by many 
good roads, and there are abundant means of procuring 
irrigation. Derbunga is well supplied. Hajqmr is a1 
the confluence of the Gunduck with the Ganges, anc 
is much frequented by pilgrims. Mozuffu7j>ur is the 
capital. It has a Government school. It is on the Little 
Gunduck. 

Rajshaye. — This large province extends over 18,000 
square miles of the central part of the great valley of the 
Ganges, and has a population of 8,000,000. It is little 
more than one vast flat, subject to inundation every 
year, crossed by numerous streams, tributaries of the 
Ganges, whose beds are constantly shifting, and the 
surface of the land is covered by innumerable small pools 
occupying hollows in the deserted channels of streams. 

Bogra (lat. 24° 36—25° 19'; long. 88° 45—89° 48' 
area, 1,704 sq. m.). — A level tract, cultivated chiefly with 
rice, sugar, and mulberry plantations, from which latter 
much silk is obtained. Hemp, cotton, and indigo are also 
grown. The town of Bogra is on the River Kuzattea 
It is the seat of the civil establishment, has a bazaar 
and is well supplied. Distance NE. from Calcutta 
247 miles. 

Dinajpur (lat. 24° 53—26° 38'; long. 88° 2'— 89° 16' 
area, 4,067 sq. m.). — This district touches the native state 
of Botan. Although flat, it slopes gently towards the 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



65 



south, and has a few eminences about 100 feet above the 
general level of the country; several rivers intersect it. 
Bice, the sugar-cane, betel, and hemp are the principal 
crops. The natives are miserably lodged in bamboo or 
mud huts. Dinajpur, the chief town, is clean and 
large, but not of much interest. It is 261 miles ~N. of 
Calcutta. Hemtabad, 25 miles W. of Dinajpur, was 
formerly a place of importance, and contains a remark- 
able mosque and other architectural curiosities, some of a 
date anterior to Moslem occupation. Raeganj, a small 
but busy place, 32 miles W. of Diriajpur, the principal 
mart of a large and rich district. There are ma.ny rich 
merchants, but the town is filthy. 

Malda (lat. 24° 30 '—2 5° 35'; long. 87° 50'— 88° 30'; 
area, 1,655 sq. m.). — A thoroughly alluvial tract, resem- 
bling a delta, but 200 miles from the sea. The town of 
Malda, on the left bank of the Mahanuddy, is a wretched, 
ruined place, 191 miles ~N. of Calcutta. Gaur is a ruined 
city of great antiquity, on the left bank of one of the 
branches of the Ganges. It extended for 15 miles along 
the stream. A mosque and two gates are among the 
most striking remains. 

Murshedahad (lat. 23° 48—24° 47'; long. 87° 52'— 
88° 41'; area, 2,634 sq. m.). — An important district, for- 
merly one of the centres of silk manufacture, and still 
manufacturing many coarse cotton fabrics, works in brass 
and iron, blankets, carpets, paper, mats, toys, carvings 
in wood and ivory, &c. It is crossed by several tribu- 
taries to the Ganges, and touched by the river itself at 
its widest part. The eastern part is flat, but the western 
hilly. The climate is unhealthy. Bogivangola is a 
pleasing and thriving place, and a great mart for grain. 
JBurham/pore, on the left bank of the Baghiretti, is the 
chief town. It was at one time frightfully unhealthy, 
but is said to be now much improved. It is finely situ- 
ated. Distance, 1ST. from Calcutta, 118 miles. Jellinghi, 
on the channel of that name, is of some importance. Mar- 
meddbad is six miles north of Burhampur, and on the 

5 



66 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



same channel, the Baghiretti. It is a miserable collection 
of hnts, but has a large population, and was once a place 
of great wealth and splendour, and the capital of BengaL 
There is still much trade. — A new palace was built, at 
great cost, in 1840, for the Nawab, who is the descendant 
of the ISTawabs of Bengal. Cossimbazar is an important 
suburb once celebrated for its silk manufactures. 

Pubna (lat. 23° 34'— 24° 36'; long. 88° 55'— 89° 48' ; 
area, 1,458 sq. m.). — A watery tract, traversed by the 
Ganges and the offsets from that river and the Brama- 
putra, It contains a number of shallow lakes. Pubna 
is a small town (the chief place of the district), 130 miles 
KE. of Calcutta. 

Eajshaye (lat, 24° 6'— 24° 58'; long. 88° 19'— 89° 20' ; 
area, 3,035 sq. m.).— A moist tract, crossed by numerous 
streams from the Himalaya mountains to the north, and 
subject to periodical inundations. Indigo and silk are 
the chief articles of export, Rice is tbe staple crop. 
Mampur is the chief town, 125 miles 1ST. of Calcutta. 

Bun gi mr (lat. 25° 16'— 26° 21'; long. 88° 26'— 89° 50'; 
area, 4,360 sq. m.). — A low district, a large part of which 
is inundated during the rains. The climate is peculiar. 
The hot winds of spring are little felt, and it is only from 
the beginning of June to the end of October that there 
is any sultriness. There is then little wind. The jungle 
is exceedingly rich in animals. The chief town is 
Bungpur, and is 268 miles 1STE. of Calcutta. It is a 
wretched place. 

Non-Regulation Provin ces. 

These are Assam, Chota Nagpur, and Cooch Behar* 
each divided into a number of districts, placed under the 
authority of Commissioners, assisted by several civil offi- 
cers. Assam and Cooch Behar are on the north-eastern 
frontier of India. Chota ISTagpur is on the south- 
western frontier of Bengal, and belongs, geographically^ 
to Central India (see p. 155). 



NOETH-EASTEEN INDIA. 



67 



Assam (lat. 24° 49'— 28° 17'; long. 90° 40—97° 1' 
area, 29,464 sq. m.; pop., about 1,000,000). — This large and 
important province is part of an immense plain, studded 
with numerous groups of hills, from 200 to 700 feet in 
height, and bordered on the north-east and south by lofty- 
mountains. It is intersected in every direction by rivers, 
of which the Bramaputra is the principal. As many 
as sixty-one have been described, and there are others, 
smaller. It is said that, in this respect, Assam exceeds 
every country in the world of similar extent. The climate 
is superior to that of Bengal, the day heat being more 
moderate, and the nights being always cool and refresh- 
ing. The mean summer temperature is 80°, the winter 
57°, and the annual mean, about 70°. The rains are 
of long continuance, lasting from March till October. 
Earthquakes are frequent, and, though not often serious, 
examples to the contrary are not unknown. The low 
lands are swampy, and in the rainy season flooded, 
though in the dry season, when culth ated, the soil yields 
abundant crops of potatoes. Among the objects of cul- 
tivation, tea has, for some years, been very important, 
and great numbers of plantations of the tea plant may 
now be seen. The quality of the tea grown is superior to 
that of China, and the quantity is rapidly increasing. 
Coffee also grows wild, and is cultivated. Sugar and 
cotton are obtained in any quantity by cultivating the 
red loam of the hills. Caoutchouc is obtained from the 
forests. Assam is very rich in mineral produce. Iron is 
found in the ISFaga Hills, and elsewhere. Coal is got in 
some places north of the Bramaputra. Silver occurs 
in the mountains. Large quantities of salt are obtained 
from the evaporation of brine springs. The wild animals 
are very numerous and abundant. The elephant is killed 
for its tusks. The rhinoceros, the tiger, bears, leopards, 
wild buffaloes, wild hogs, and game of various kinds, are 
plentiful, and the rivers are crowded with fish. 

The population of Assam is partly Hindu, partly Ma- 
homedan, but many wild indigenous tribes live among 

5 * 



68 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



the mountains. The chief of these are the Abors, Bor- 
abors, and Nagas. They were long troublesome, and 
apparently irreclaimable, but are now quiet. They speak 
a peculiar dialect, or rather a distinct language, called 
Assamese. 

The present inhabitants of Assam are the descendants of 
a warlike Tartar people who conquered the country and 
held it against the Great Mogul. At the beginning of this 
century the raja was expelled, and there was a period of 
anarchy. The whole province was taken possession of by 
the British, under the terms of a treaty with Ava, in 
1826. Upper Assam was then placed under a native 
raja ; but being grossly misgoverned, came in 1838 under 
British administration. The remainder was annexed at 
different times. The country has greatly improved since 
annexation, and is already taking rank among the finest 
and richest provinces of India. Assam now communi- 
cates with Calcutta by steamers on the Bramaputra, 
and the intercourse is very complete. Except in the hill 
districts, the people are civilized, and education has made 
great strides. There are many government schools, and 
the English language is generally taught. Besides the 
English, the American missionaries have long exerted 
themselves in improving the condition of the people. 

Assam was formerly divided into the Upper and Lower 
Provinces, but has lately been rearranged. It now in- 
cludes eight districts. They are Camroop, including 
Gowhatty (3,582 sq. m.), Cossya and Jyntea Hills (5,536 
sq. m.), Durrung (2,275 sq. m.), Luchimpur (8,000 sq. m.), 
Naga Kills (part), (3,966 sq. m.). Noivgong (3,648 sq. m.), 
and Seebsagur (2,457 sq. m.). 

The part of Assam including the Cossya, Jyntea, 
and Naga Hills is a rugged region, almost impregnable in 
a military point of view, and yielding coal, iron, and 
limestone. The country is interesting, the climate 
healthy and pleasant. There are several lakes, especially 
towards the south-east. The district is rather a sloping 
plateau or table-land, than a mountain chain ; and there 



NORTH- EASTERN INDIA. 



69 



are ravines in the plateau, presenting bold precipices, and 
forming deep valleys. There are few peaked hills, and 
these are not lofty. Besides the mineral productions, 
cassia, lac, caoutchouc, honey, wax, and oranges are 
obtained. The inhabitants are not strict Hindus, as 
they eat beef, and have few religious notions. There are 
neither idols nor temples in the country. !Near the 
villages are some remarkable stone monuments, resem- 
bling those of Stonehenge ; and many peculiar recks and 
stones are regarded as sacred by the natives. The hill 
tribes are very wild; and some of them are cannibals. 
They still make raids into the cultivated districts. 

Gherra Punji is in the Cossya Hills district. It is 
4,500 feet above the sea, and its temperature is 14° Fahr. 
lower than that of the plains of Bengal. The climate 
resembles in some respects that of England. There are 
frequent showers "and fogs at all periods of the year, and 
occasionally severe thunderstorms, accompanied by hail. 
The rain-fall at Cherra Punji is exceptionally great. The 
mean fall is estimated at 300 inches ; in extreme cases, 
100 inches have fallen in six weeks, and nearly 600 inches 
in a single year. The periodical rains begin early, and 
continue beyond the usual period of the surrounding 
country. There was formerly a sanatorium at this place, 
now transferred to Darjeeling (see p. 70). Durrung is a 
large town on the right bank of the Bramaputra. Gola 
Ghat is a large mart for cotton and rice, near it are coal- 
beds and limestone quarries. Gowhatty, formerly very 
unhealthy, is now improved by sanitary regulations. It 
is prettily situated on a plain, bounded by the Brama- 
putra on the north, and a semicircular range of hills on 
the south. Luchimpur is a town of about 30,000 in- 
habitants on the frontier of Botan. Noivgong is a town of 
some importance. Seebsagur or Seebpur is a small town 
intheNE. of Assam. Suduja is above the point where 
the Dihong bifurcates. Tezpnv, the ancient capital, is 
interesting, from the fine ruins that remain of its former 
magnificence. 

Cooch Behar (lat. 25° 10—26° 50'; long. 88° 25 / — 



70 



GEOGRAPHY Or INDIA. 



91° 10'; area, including native states, 12,750 sq. m.). — A 
recently constructed province on the north-eastern fron- 
tier, adjoining and including portions of the native states 
of Botan and Cooch Behar. It comprises five districts. 
The whole province is governed by a Commissioner, and 
each district by a Deputy Commissioner, with the excep- 
tion of the Garrow Hills, which has an Assistant Commis- 
sioner. The native portion of the province is under 
British administration. 

Cooch Behar and Garrow Hills. — These two districts, 
whose total area is 5,711 sq. m., include native states, parts 
of them recently annexed. Cooch Behar is an alluvial 
level and well watered tract on the north side of the 
Bramaputra, which is there very wide, and studded with 
numerous islands. The Garrow Hills are very inaccessible, 
though not lofty, and form the country on the left or 
south bank of the Bramaputra. » 

Darjeeling (area 1,234 sq. m.). — A district in the 
extreme north-west of the province, south of Sikkim. 
Darjeeling is a hill station and sanatorium, 7,000 
feet above the sea. The Darjeeling hills, to the north, 
are well adapted to the growth of tea and coffee. Im- 
mediately beyond these hills rise the snowy mountains 
of the Himalaya, and the lofty peak Kinchinjunga, 
once thought to be the highest point in the chain, is 
in view. The town of Daijeeling is situated in one of 
the spurs of the Sinchul mountains, on the southern side 
of a great hollow or basin. The mean temperature is 
54°, and little exceeds that of England. The climate 
is delightful. The whole surrounding country is covered 
with forests. 

East Dooars, with Goalpara (area, 4,378 sq. m.) and 
West Dooars (area, 1,427 sq. m.). — These districts, recently 
acquired by purchase from Botan, consist of a well watered 
country in the north of the province, with good alluvial 
soil, sloping gradually to the south-east. Goaljpara lies 
between the hilly districts on the south of the Bramaputra 
and the river. It is prosperous, yielding cotton, tobacco, 
sugar, and mustard. 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



71 



2. British Burma. 

Under this name were united in 1862, for Government 
purposes, the kingdom of Pegu, occupied and retained 
after the war of 1852, the kingdom of Arracan, and the 
long line of sea-coast called Tenasserim. These latter were 
acquired by treaty, after the war of 1825-6. The whole 
territory lies on the east side of the Bay of Bengal, 
stretching southwards for a distance of 1,000 miles, with 
a total area of 90,000 square miles. There are also in the 
sea adjacent a number of islands, some near the coast, but 
others, as the Andaman and Nicobar groups, altogether 
detached. All are under the control of a Chief Com- 
missioner, appointed under the Supreme Government of 
India. British Burma is divided into three provinces, 
and these again into twelve districts, over each of which 
is a Deputy Commissioner, acting as Collector and Civil 
Sessions Judge. The population is estimated at nearly 
2,500,000, chiefly branches of the Indo-Chinese family, of 
whom the Burmese are the largest in number, and the 
most civilized. The language spoken is chiefly Burmese. 
The natural productions are the same in all parts : rice, 
tobacco, cotton, sugar, and pepper, are grown on the low 
grounds ; timber, chiefly teak, on the hills. Sheep, oxen, 
and buffaloes are common. Wild animals abound. 

The climate of the various countries of British Burma 
is much the same. The hot season is from March to 
June, the rainy season from May or June to October, and 
the cold season from October to March. The maximum 
temperature is about 100°, the minimum 60°, and the 
mean 80°. The rain-fall varies from 60 inches in some 
places to 190 in others, but is generally very heavy. 

Arracan (lat. 18°— 21° 33' ; long. 92° 10—94° 50'; area 
13,484 sq. m. ; pop., 445,483). — This province extends for 
290 miles from north to south. The northern part is 
from seventy to ninety miles across, the southern not 
more than fifteen to twenty. The coast is skirted by 
many islands, the most important being Bamri, Cheduba, 
and Shapuri. A large part of the extended line of sea 



coast is rugged and rocky. Inland there are extensive 
flats and valleys, the latter of which are traversed by 
small streams, and are fertile and highly cultivated. 
There is also mnch low, marshy land, overrun with thick 
jungle and indented with tidal creeks, so as to render 
communication by land very difficult, and often imprac- 
ticable. Further inland is the mountain frontier of 
the Yumadoang mountains, separating Arracan from 
Pegu, varying in height from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. One 
of the elevations is said to rise to 8,000 feet. Over 
these ranges there are several passes, one of them an 
excellent road. It is called the Aeng route. The in- 
habitants of these mountains are independent tribes. 
The chief rivers of Arracan are the Myu. the Kuladen, 
or Arracan river, the Lemyo, the Talak, and the Aeng, 
The three former flow southwards, nearly parallel, and at 
distances of about twenty miles apart. There are no 
lakes in the country. Along the coast and in the islands 
are mud volcanoes, and earthquakes have taken place in 
the province. Petroleum has been found near the mud 
volcanoes, but not in large quantity. Iron ore has been 
found. The province is divided into three districts, 
Akyab, Ramri, and Sandoway. The first is low and flat, 
and is a valley parallel to the sea coast ; Ramri includes 
the islands ; Sandoway is mountainous, and more healthy 
than the rest. The aboriginal inhabitants are called 
Mags, a Burmese tribe, who form about half the popu- 
lation. The town of Aeng is an important place on the 
road to Ava, reached from the sea by a navigable river* 
The surrounding country is fertile. Akyab is a sea-port- 
town on an island at the mouth of the Kuladen. This 
is the most important town in the province, and is well 
situated for trade, which is carried on with great activity. 
The houses are well built, and the streets regular. Popu- 
lation 15,000. Arracan, the ancient capital, is a straggling 
town, inconveniently situated, fifty miles from the sea„ 
The houses are raised several feet above the ground, to- 
protect them during inundations. It contains the ruins 
of a fort, and has a good bazaar. The climate is un- 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



73 



healthy, and there is much trade with Calcutta. Kyuh- 
Phyu is an important military station on the Isle of 
Earari, well built, thriving, and well situated on a noble 
harbour. Sancloway is on a tidal creek of the same name, 
ten miles from the sea. 

Pegu (lat. 15° 49'— 19° 30'; long. 94° 11'— 96° 55'; 
area, 34,000 sq. m. ; pop., 600,000). — One of the richest 
and most fertile provinces of the Burman empire, an- 
nexed to the British empire after the war of 1852, in 
consequence of indignities and injuries offered to the 
English by the Burmese authorities. It occupies the 
country within a considerable distance of the mouths 
of the Irrawaddy and the streams connecting with it at 
various parts of its course. These are very numerous., 
but there are four more important than the rest. The 
Biver Irrawaddy itself reaches the frontier of Pegu after 
having traversed 800 miles of country from the snowy 
range of the Himalaya, and runs for 270 miles through 
Pegu. The lower part is a magnificent alluvial delta, 
penetrated by a vast number of tidal creeks, and extend- 
ing over 10,000 square miles. Both the Irrawaddy and 
some of its branches are navigable, and irrigate the 
country through which they pass. Pegu is the former 
capital. It is comparatively modern, being founded on 
the ruins of the old town, destroyed in 1757. It is on the 
Pegu river, and is well built, with wide streets. JBassein, 
on a branch of the Irrawaddy, has considerable trade, and 
commands the river, which is navigable for ships of the 
largest burden. It is the centre of a populous agricultural 
district, and the head- quarters of an American mission ; 
population 25,000. Dalhousie is a modern town at the 
mouth of the river of the same name. Meaclay is a 
frontier town. Prome is a large and important place; 
population 23,000. Eangoon is the most important town 
in Pegu, on the Eangoon river, a branch of the Irrawaddy. 
It has much trade, and increases rapidly; population 
63,000. Large quantities of a valuable kind of bitumen, 
obtained from the neighbourhood, are shipped from thence 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



It has been frequently rebnilt. Sitang and Tounghu are 
towns rapidly increasing under British rule. 

Tenasserim and Martaban (lat, 10° 48'— 18° 25'; 
long. 96° 35—99° 30' ; area 30*000 sq.m.).— The province 
thus named extends along the eastern coast of the Bay 
of Bengal. It is a narrow strip of land, with a long 
line of bold and rocky sea- coast, in many places 
bordered by numerous islands, and indented by many 
creeks and small streams, besides several rivers of 
some magnitude, affording good anchorage. In the 
central part, between Ye and Tavoy, there are large 
tracts of swampy land called Sunderbunds, where the 
mangrove and other trees which thrive in brackish water 
grow luxuriantly, and entirely conceal the land. The 
interior of the country is a wilderness of thickly wooded 
hills, interrupted by long narrow valleys running from 
north to south. At intervals, and towards the north, 
there are large alluvial plains, highly fertile, watered by 
the rivers Sal ween and Sitang. These rivers are tidal, 
wide and deep at their mouths, and navigable for some 
distance from the sea. On the hills are forests of gigantic 
and valuable timber. In the jungle and in the forests are 
numerous wild animals. Elephants, rhinoceroses, and 
tigers are especially large. The mineral wealth of Te- 
nasserim is very great. Besides coal of excellent quality, 
and iron in large quantity, tin has been found generally 
diffused in the soil throughout the country, chiefly as a 
black sand. This is the case especially at Mergui. Gold 
has been found in the streams of the Tavoy district, and 
copper in some of the islands. The climate on the coast 
has been considered very healthy. 

The principal town is Moulmein, or Maulmain. It is 
on a small peninsula at the mouth of the Sal ween. There 
is a good port, and the town possesses wide streets, quays, 
and fine markets. It is well drained, and healthy. Yast 
quantities of teak from the forests are brought here, and 
there are shipbuilding establishments to utilize it. The 
population is 70,000. Other towns are Amherst, also an 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



75 



emporium of the timber trade. It is recently founded, 
and has a good harbour, difficult of access. Attaran, on a 
river of the same name, falling into the Moulmein. Mar- 
taban, on the Salween river, opposite Moulmein. Mergui, 
on the principal mouth of the Tenasserim river. It is 
healthy, and has much foreign trade. The harbour is 
accessible to ships of small burden. Off Mergui is a group 
of islands called the Mergui Archipelago. Tavoy (pop. 
13,000) is on an alluvial plain, and has extensive rice cul- 
tivation in the neighbourhood. The streets are open, and 
the town is surrounded by a ditch, but, notwithstanding 
all this, it is very healthy. Tenasserim, formerly the 
capital, is now of no importance. 

Andaman Islands. — A group of four large and several 
smaller islands of volcanic origin, about 200 miles west of 
the coast of the Tenasserim provinces, extending north 
and south parallel to the coast about the 93rd degree of 
east longitude, and with a total length of 140 miles. 
They consist of a mountain ridge, rising to 2,400 feet, the 
escarped side being towards the east and the slope to the 
west. The largest is 140 miles long, but divided into 
three parts by very narrow straits. Dangerous coral reefs 
surrouud the group, and a dense tropical forest covers the 
greater part of their surface. They are peopled by 
savages, who have no pursuit and no government. They 
worship the sun and moon. They wander from place to 
place, with no fixed habitations, and feed on fish and fruits. 
There are several excellent harbours, the best of them 
being Port Blair, where a penal colony for all India was 
established in 1858. These islands are singularly in- 
teresting for their zoology, several species of large land 
animals being apparently confined to them.* 

Adjoining the Andaman Islands, between them and 
the Mergui Archipelago, is Barren Island, a remarkable 
active volcano. The whole island is a volcanic cone about 
two miles in diameter as it rises out of the sea. 

* They have recently yielded a new large chimpanzee, and a new 
species of hog. 



76 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



The Cocos Islands are two small uninhabited islands 
near the north-east point of Great Andaman. The largest 
is 6 miles long and 2 miles broad. The smaller 2\ miles 
long and a mile broad. 

Nicobar Islands. — A gronp of nine large and some 
small islands, situated about 150 miles south of the 
Andaman Islands, and about the same distance from 
Sumatra. The largest is twenty miles long and eight 
across. They have been inhabited by piratical Malays, 
who carried on a considerable traffic in cocoa-nuts, betel- 
nuts, pigs, poultry, and yams. The climate is unhealthy. 
The Danes formed a settlement on the group in 1756, 
but abandoned the place in 1846. Formal possession 
was taken of the islands in the year 1869, by the Indian 
Government as a convict settlement. 

3. Straits Settlements. 

These settlements consist of the islands of Singapore 
and Penang, and a tract of land about Malacca. There is 
also a narrow strip on the west coast of the Malayan 
Peninsula. The chief authority is a Governor appointed 
directly under the Crown. There is a resident councillor 
in each settlement. Total area, 1,600 sq. m. 

Malacca.— A compact territory, about forty miles in 
length and twenty-five in breadth, with an area of about 
1,000 square miles. It yields rice, sago, pepper, jaggery, and 
some fruits and vegetables. The forests contain valuable 
timber. There are cattle and poultry, and fish is plentiful. 
Tin mines are worked in various places. The climate is 
very good. There are few hot nights, regular land and 
sea breezes, and a very small range of the thermometer. 
The monsoons are hardly felt. The town of Malacca is 
at the entrance of a small river, and built on both sides 
the river, connected by a bridge. It is very picturesque. 
Malacca was first occupied by the Portuguese, and after- 
wards by the Dutch. It was finally made over to the 
English in 1824. 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



77 



Penang, or Pulo-Penang, also called Prince of Wales 
Island, is near the northern entrance of the Straits, off 
the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. It is fifteen 
miles long and twelve miles in extreme width, and its 
area is 160 square miles. There is a harbour formed by the 
Strait separating the island from the Queda coast. It 
has deep water, with good anchorage, and is spacious and 
well sheltered. It is a place of great commerce. - The 
climate on the hills is said to be delightful. The whole 
island is covered with luxuriant vegetation, the shores 
abounding with cocoa-nut palms. The soil is light and 
rich, and the principal crops are cloves, on the hills, 
when cleared ; tea, cotton, and tobacco, on the slopes ; 
rice, coffee, and sugar-cane in the valleys. Nutmeg and 
the betel vine are extensively cultivated. Tin is found. 
George Town is the capital, and is the seat of Govern- 
ment of all the British possessions in the Straits. There 
are several villages, and many objects of interest. 

Singapore. — An island in the Straits of Malacca, at 
the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, from 
which it is separated by a narrow strait, not more than 
half a mile wide at some points. The island is twenty- 
six miles in length and thirteen in its greatest breadth, and 
contains 275 square miles. The general surface is low and 
undulating, rising into rounded hills, one of which is 500 
feet above the sea. The whole is covered with foliage to 
the water's edge. The climate, though hot, is not un- 
healthy. The soil is alluvial and rich, yielding sugar, 
cotton, coffee, nutmegs, and pepper. The town of Singa* 
pore is built on both sides of a river, navigable for small 
craft. Lat. 1° 16'; long. 103° 53'. 

Welle sley Province is a narrow strip of territory on 
the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, opposite Penang, 
of which it is a dependency. It is thirty-five miles long 
and four wide, with an area of 140 square miles. Its surface 
is gently undulating, sloping" towards the sea. Cocoa-nuts, 
rice, sugar-cane, and indigo are the chief products. 



78 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



4. Native States oe North-Eastern Ixdia. 

Botan (lat. 26° 18'— 28° 2'; long. 88° 32'— 92° 30'; 
area, 19,000 sq. m.). — This territory lies to the east of 
Nepaul and Sikkim, between Assam and the mountains 
that form the southern slope of the Himalaya. It 
extends from east to west 230 miles, with a breadth 
of 120 miles. It is crossed by two ranges of mountain 
land, parallel to the great mountain chain; one (the 
nearest) 8,000 feet high generally, with occasional peaks 
as much as 16,000 feet, the other more distant and less 
lofty. Between the Himalaya and the first range is a 
high table-land, too bleak and barren to be habitable, 
except at the foot of the first range, where are most of 
the principal towns. To the east of the second range the 
land is level, and southwards of the lower range are the 
Dooars, or Passes, tracts of country of extraordinary fer- 
tility, whose produce once formed the chief means of sub- 
sistence of the people. These were ceded to the British 
in 1866, in return for an annual payment of money. 
Botan enjoys a variety of climate and scenery scarcely 
to be equalled in any other country. The cold of Siberia, 
the heat of Africa, and the pleasant warmth of Italy 
may all be experienced in a day's journey. At one 
view may be seen rugged barren hills and valleys covered 
with luxuriant vegetation, rushing mountain torrents and 
gentle streams, dense forests and sunny slopes, placid 
lakes and steep precipices, and vast masses of eternal 
snow stretching upwards into the sky. 

The soil produces rice and millet in abundance. Sheep 
and ponies and a hardy breed of horned cattle are reared, 
and game of all kinds abound in the forests. The roads 
are mere tracks, through ravines which are occupied by 
torrents in the rainy season. The population consists of 
three classes : the priests, who occupy the best houses, do 
nothing, and live at the expense of the people ; the chiefs, 
or " Penlows," who are the governing classes, but live in 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA. 



79 



the coarsest manner ; and the cultivators, who are miser- 
ably poor, and live in wretched huts. Women are treated 
as beasts of burden. 

The country is governed, nominally, by a person called 
the " Durm Kaja," supposed to be a divinity in human 
shape, but really by the "Deb Kaja," who is elected by 
the Penlows, every three years, from their own number. 
The government is exceedingly bad, the population 
scanty, and the habits of the people filthy and immoral. 
The religion of the country is Buddhism. The principal 
town is Punaka, on the left bank of the Bagnee river, 
and ninety-six miles ENE. from Darjeeling. The houses 
are mostly built of wood. Tasi-choyong is a place of 
some size, on the river Grudada. Toungsu, on the road 
from Assam to Shassa, is of considerable importance. 
Pus ale a is a place of great natural strength on the 
frontier. 

Cuttack Mehals. — These native states, included in the 
Government of Bengal, belong geographically to Central 
India, and are described in p. 176. 

Munipur (lat. 23° 50' — 25° 40'; long. 93° 10' — 
94° 30'; area, 7,584 sq. m.; pop., 75,840). — A rugged 
mountainous country, south of Assam, between Assam 
and the Burman empire. It is intersected by one great 
valley, inhabited by a number of tribes in constant war- 
fare with each other, roaming about from place to place, 
subsisting on the produce of the chase. In the central 
valley rice, pulse, sugar-cane, and tobacco grow luxu- 
riantly, and the tea-plant flourishes throughout. There 
are many brine- springs. The soil is very fruitful, but 
there is little cultivation. Iron ore is found, and there 
are manufactures of iron and copper, the latter being 
chiefly worked as bell-metal for drinking and other vessels 
and coins. Cotton cloth is woven. The people are strong 
and active. All the males above sixteen perform state ser- 
vice. They pay no taxes, but are divided into four classes 



80 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



each of which serves ten days in rotation without any pay. 
They are brought on duty either as sepoys, cultivators, or 
artificers. There are no public works, except a road from 
the mountains of Cachar to the valley. The people are 
half pagans. Polygamy is common, and the women are 
slaves. A small tribute is paid to the British Govern- 
ment, and the country is governed by a Baja, and 
regarded as a neutral territory between British India 
and Burma. There is a town of the same name as the 
state. The British representative is termed the Political 
Agent, and resides in the town. 

Nepaul (lat. 26° 25'— 30° 17'; long. 80° 15'— 88° 15'; 
area, 54,000 sq. m. ; pop., 2,000,000). — This state extends 
from the valley of the Ganges on the south to the crest 
of the main Himalaya chain on 'the north, and from 
Ivumaon on the west to Sikkim on the east. It is tra- 
versed by several considerable streams, and is divided 
into five parallel zones. It is a comparatively narrow 
strip of country, nearly 500 miles in length, and only 160 
in breadth, exhibiting great diversity of surface and 
climate, and corresponding differences of vegetable and 
animal life. Along its southern border extends the 
c< Terai," a remarkable district of unhealthy land (see p. 
100). Beyond this is a forest region, producing a great 
variety of valuable timber. Beyond this, again, the 
country becomes hilly, and continues to rise in terraces. 
Still further north, these begin to assume a mountainous 
character, beyond and above which rises the great snowy 
range with Mount Everest (29,000 feet), Dawalagiri 
(26,862 feet), Kinchinjunga (28,156 feet), and others, the 
highest peaks in the world. Amongst the mountains are 
several habitable valleys, varying in height from 3,000 to 
6,000 feet above the plains of Bengal. Of these, the 
valley of Nepaul proper is the largest, being twelve miles 
long and nine miles broad. It is bounded on all sides by 
lofty mountains, and its undulating surface is covered 
with a rich expanse of cultivated land, watered by 



NORTH-EASTERN INDIA . 



81 



numerous winding streams, and studded with villages 
and towns. It has the appearance of a lake-bed, and 
Hindu records describe it as having been so at some 
former time. 

The climate of JTepauL is characterized by the widest 
extremes in different parts, and all degrees of temperature, 
from the cold of Siberia to the burning heat of the 
African desert, may be experienced in a day or two's 
journey. Generally, however, the climate resembles in 
some respects that of Southern Europe. The seasons are 
those of Upper India,, but the rains commence earlier, 
and set in from the south-east. In the Terai putrid 
fever is common and very fatal, from the middle of March 
to the middle of November. 

The mineral productions of this country are varied and 
important. Copper and iron mines are worked in the 
hills ; lead is known to occur, arsenic is found, and there 
is good building material. The manufactures include 
utensils of copper, brass, and iron, and casting of bells. 
Iron, copper, timber, hides, rice, ginger, honey, and fruits 
are exported; coarse cotton, cloth, and paper are made. 
The population consists of Goorkas, Newars, Botias 
and aboriginal mountain tribes. The Goorkas, the 
ruling race, are Hindu-ized Tartars ; the ISTewars are 
agriculturists, traders, and artisans, they have Chinese 
features, and are also of Tartar origin ; the Botias live 
far up in the mountains adjoining Tibet. They and 
the Newars are Buddhists in religion. The language 
spoken by the Goorkas is a mountain dialect of Hindu, 
called Prabratiya. The dialect of the INewars is peculiar 
to themselves. 

Katmandu is the residence of the Baja, and is re- 
garded as the capital of JSTepaul. It is also the head- 
quarters of the representative of the British Government, 
called the Resident. It is on the east bank of the Bishn- 
mutty river, in a circular valley, 4,800 feet above the 
sea. It extends for about a mile along the river bank ; 
but its breadth is not more than a quarter of a mile. 

6 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



The river is crossed by two bridges. Many of the 
public buildings are of wood, but there are some temples 
of brick, and most of the houses are of brick, with tiled 
roofs. The population is estimated at 50,000. The 
British Eesident resides here. LaUta Patun is about six 
miles distant. Goorka, Jemla, and Mukwcmpur are 
towns of some importance. 

Nepaul is governed by an independent Eaja. It 
formerly included large tracts of country that have been 
taken possession of by the English, but a part has been 
left under the old regime. The Goorkas appear to have 
conquered the country about the year 1768, and in 1790 
the Nepaulese invaded Tibet with sufficient success to 
induce the Lama to appeal to the Emperor of China, who 
despatched a large force, conquered the Goorkas, and 
pursued them nearly to the capital. Nepaul then became 
a Chinese dependency. This, however, did riot last long, 
and political relations were established before the close of 
the century with the East India Company. War soon 
ensued, as the terms of treaties were not attended to, 
and border invasions were common. In 1816, after some 
military operations that were eminently unsuccessful, the 
British, under Sir David Ochterlony, advanced into the 
heart of the country, and dictated terms which have 
since been observed on both sides. All the country to 
the west of the Eiver Kali was added to the British 
dominions, and the remainder was given up to the in- 
trigues of the native rulers. Nepaul is the largest of 
the independent states, and one of the very few that 
still remain in which British influence is not in all 
respects supreme. 

Sikkim (lat. 27° 5'— 28° 3'; long. 88° 2'— 89°; area, 
1,550 sq. m. ; pop., 7,000). — A small mountainous tract 
between Botan and Eepaul. It resembles Botan in its 
physical features, and its productions are similar. On its 
northern frontier are some of the highest peaks of the 
Himalaya chain. Taen-long is the place of residence of 



NOTtTH-EASTEKNT INDIA. 



83 



the governing Baja. Tasiding is a stronghold on the 
top of a mountain, near Sikkini. 

Tippera (Hill) (lat. 22° 48'— 24° 30'; long. 91° 10'— 
D2° 25'; area, 7,632 sq. m. ; pop. not known). — A mountain- 
ous district, bounded on the north by the British districts 
Silhet and Cachar; on the east and south by the ter- 
ritory of Burma and by Chittagong; and on the west 
by British Tippera. It is almost covered with dense 
bamboo jungle, infested with elephants, deer, hogs, mon- 
keys, snakes, and many birds. The people are Kookies, 
a black, undersized race, wild, and almost naked, the men 
being always armed with bows and arrows, spears, and 
other rude weapons. They live in huts constructed on 
scaffolds, from four to seven feet above the ground. The 
huts are made of bamboo slips, and thatched with grass. 
The people cultivate paddy, cotton, indian corn, and 
indigo, besides pumpkins and yams, beans and chilies. 
The tea-plant grows wild, and the soil is exceedingly 
fertile. The government is in the hands of a number of 
ohiefs, who levy tribute on their dependents at will, and 
pay an annual tribute to the Maharaja. 



N.B. Cooch Behar (area, 1,364 sq. m.), and the Cossya 
and GaiTOW Hills (area, 4,347 sq. m.), being now brought 
under British management, are described as forming parts 
of the non-regulation provinces of Bengal (.see p. 70). 



CHAPTEK III. 



Northern India. — "Western Division. 

5. North- Western Provinces of Bengal. — General Account — 
Regulation Provinces: Agra Province — Allahabad Province 
— Benares Province — Meerut Province — Rohilcund Province — 
Non-regulation Provinces : Ajmir Province — Jansi Province 
— Kuinaon Province. 6. Oucle. 7. The Punjab. — General 
Account — Amritsur Province— Cis Sutlej States— Delhi Pro- 
vince— Deraj at Province — Hissar Province — Lahore Province 
— Multan Province — Peshawar Province— Rawul Pindi Pro- 
vince — Trans-Sutlej States. 8. Native States of North- 
Western India : Bahadurgur — Bawalpur — Bullubgur — Cash- 
mere — Deojana — Furrucknugger — Gurwal — Hill States — 
Jujur — Loharu — Patowdi — Rajputana — Rampur — Shapura — 
Sikh States. 9. Independent Native Countries adjoining 
North-Westem India: Afganistan — Beluchistan. 

5. North- Western Provinces or Bengal. 

General Account. — These extensive provinces reach 
from the Lower Provinces of Bengal on the east, to the 
Punjab on the west, and from ISTepaul, Oude, and Tibet 
on the north, to Bundelcnnd, Malwa, and Kajputana on 
the south. They include about 83,690 square miles, with 
a population of 30,000,000. The northernmost part com- 
prises a narrow strip of pestilential country, abounding in 
swamps, called the " Terai " {see p. 100). The great valley 
of the Ganges occupies the central part, and is one vast 
plain, gradually sloping from the west towards the east, 
so that at Saharunpur the level is 600 feet higher than 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



85 



at Allahabad. The result of this is that irrigation is 
gradually more and more necessary towards the west. 
The principal crops are cotton, rice, maize, millet, indigo, 
wheat, barley, oil- seeds, and tobacco, besides fruits and 
vegetables. Tea is grown in some places, and there is 
valuable timber in the hilly country. The climate is 
subject to great extremes, but is generally pleasant from 
October to March, and is not considered unhealthy. The 
hill countries are delightful, but the cold of winter is 
severe, and the heat of summer frightful. The hot 
westerly winds of April, May, and June are especially 
trying to European constitutions. In June these ter- 
minate with storm and rain. The total rainfall is not 
generally large. 

The North- Western Provinces are under the control 
of a Lieutenant-Governor, appointed by the Yiceroy 
in Council. There are five regulation and three non- 
regulation provinces. Each province is under a Commis- 
sioner, and the provinces are divided into districts, each 
of which is under a Magistrate Collector. 

There is little mineral wealth in these provinces. Iron 
and copper are found in Kumaon, nitre is obtained from 
the plains, and there is sandstone in some places. The 
kunlmr, an inferior kind of limestone, found in irre- 
gular, lumps in the soil, is very abundant in the North- 
West Provinces west of the Ganges. The lumps vary in 
size, and sometimes form beds. All the streams which 
feed the Ganges on the right bank are impregnated with 
this lime, and those on the opposite side contain nitre, 
also obtained from the soil. For this reason the waters 
of the Ganges are often injurious to vegetation, and in 
some parts of its course are hardly fit either for human 
use or for cattle. Kunkur is very valuable for roadmaking, 
as it binds completely, and soon settles into a hard 
surface. 

Many of the districts in the North- Western Provinces 
and in the Punjab are bounded by the great rivers of 
Northern India, which converge towards, and ultimately be- 



86 



GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA. 



come lost either in the Ganges running eastward and south r 
or the Indus running west and south. The long triangular 
strips of land between the rivers are called in India doabs. 
They are generally alluvial and fertile, but considerably 
above the ordinary level of the streams, which run through 
ravines, except within a certain distance of the ordinary 
banks. These ravines are generally cut through alluvial 
deposits. Owing to this position, the land between the 
streams is dry and barren, unless artificially watered. 
Advantage is taken of the natural slope of the great 
plains of India, through which these rivers flow to the 
sea, to construct irrigation canals, by means of which 
the land, otherwise barren, becomes exceptionally fertile^ 
Yery important canals have been constructed, and are in 
course of construction, on several of the doabs (see p. 41). 

The North-Western Provinces are already crossed by 
lines of railway, which, when the network is completed, 
will connect them with Calcutta on the one side and 
Bombay on the other, and will also open a direct commu- 
nication to the Indus. Yery little is wanting to complete 
the main lines (see p. 39). The other roads are good. 

Telegraphic communication is secured throughout the 
North- We stern Provinces. 

Begi'.Iation Provinces * 

Ag'ra. — An extensive flat country between the Jumna 
aud the Ganges (area, about 9,880 sq. m.). Though these 
two great rivers and their tributaries intersect most of the 
North Western provinces, the land greatly needs artificial 
irrigation, and suffers much from drought in dry seasons. 



* In certain districts in India, power is reserved, by legislative 
enactment, of modifying, to any extent that may be deemed requi- 
site, the introduction of the ordinary modes of obtaining revenue, 
and of conducting judicial administration. Such districts are 
called non-re filiation. Those having fixed methods, on the other 
hand, are regulation districts or provinces. 



^OUTH-WESTERjST INDIA. 



87 



^/ra (lat. 26° 46'— 27° 24'; long. 77° 29'— 78° 55'; area, 
1,877 sq. m.). — A level tract, intersected by several noble 
rivers, bnt suffering much from want of water, as the rivers 
run in deep channels. The soil is sandy ; the water often 
brackish, and in dry years there is famine. The district 
contains a peculiar building sandstone, decaying readily. 

The chief city is Agra, formerly the residence of the 
Mogul emperors, and till lately the seat of government of 
the North- Western Provinces. It is on the right bank of 
a branch of the Jumna, which is dry in dry seasons. The old 
city walls remain, and include a rectangular space of about 
eleven square miles ; but of this, not half is now occupied. 
The present population is 145,000. There is one fine wide 
street, the houses of which are built of stone. There is an 
irregular- shaped fort, containing a small palace, very in- 
teresting for its decorations, and near it is the Pearl 
Mosque (Moti Masjid), an exquisite specimen of oriental 
architecture. The celebrated tomb called the Taj Mehal, 
is outside the city, about a mile east of the fort. The en- 
closure is a rectangle, measuring 964 feet from east to 
west, and 329 from north to south. The great central 
dome is 70 feet in diameter, and 260 feet high. The work- 
manship of the mosaics in the interior is unrivalled. 
Six miles north of the city is Secundra, a ruinous village, 
containing the tomb of the Emperor Akbar, one of 
the finest buildings in India. Distance NW. from Cal- 
cutta 783 miles ; SE. from Delhi, 139. Elevation above 
the sea about 650 feet. Ferozbad (formerly Chandwar} 
is 25 miles east of Agra. It is a large and ancient but 
decayed town, surrounded by a wail. Population, 12,674. 

Fta or Eytuh (lat. 27° 22'— 28° 5' ; long. 77° 40'— 
79° 15'; area, 1,400 sq. m.). — A district in the extreme 
north of the province, bordered by the Jumna, and crossed 
by the East Indian Eailway. Fta, the chief town, is 
surrounded by a mud wall, and is encompassed by water 
during the periodical rains. It is 34 m. NE. of Mynpuri. 
Supplies and water are always abundant. 

Ftawa (lat. 26° 21'— 27° 9'; long. 78° 46—79° 49'; 



88 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



area, 1,631 sq. m.). — A district in the Doab* to the east of 
Agra. It is flat and unsheltered, and is very subject to 
the blasts of the hot winds of the spring months. The 
vegetation commences immediately after the rains, which 
are very heavy. The crops include wheat and barley, as 
well as rice, opium, sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, and millet. 
The town of Etaiva is on the Jumna, the houses being on 
small summits, between which are deep narrow winding 
ravines. It is an ancient town, but has suffered decay. It 
is recently more prosperous. The population is estimated 
at 23,000. There is a cantonment a mile north-west of the 
town, on a desolate sandy plain. Distance N.W. from 
Calcutta, 710 miles; S.E. from Agra, 73. 

FurrucTcabad (lat. 26° 46'— 27° 43' ; long. 78° 57 / — 80° 2'; 
area, 1,694 sq. m.). — A rich and fertile tract, a large part 
of which is inundated during the rainy season, and 
the rest sandy and sterile, but not incapable of yielding 
fine crops after inundation. The southern part is well 
wooded, and partly cultivated with sugar-cane and maize. 
Indigo grows wild, and cotton and tobacco are grown, 
though chiefly for home consumption. The town of Fur- 
ruchabad is about three miles west of the Ganges. It is 
well built and healthy, and remarkably clean. It has 
considerable trade, and till 1824 contained a mint for the 
coinage supplied to the surrounding country. The popu- 
lation is returned at 56,300 persons. The military can- 
tonment of Futtegur is three miles east of the town. It 
is the residence of the civil authorities, and is noted for 
the manufacture of tents. Cunnouj is a decayed town, 
thirty miles south-east of Futtegur, with few buildings 

* It has been already explained that the tongue of flat land 
between two branches of a great river in Northern India is called 
a Doab, or two-waters ; but the term is especially applied to the 
land between the Jumna and the Ganges. These two streams — 
the Jumna being one of the largest feeders of the Granges — run 
nearly parallel for a long distance before uniting, and the land 
between them is pretty uniformly of the same character, and in- 
cludes an area of many thousand square miles. 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



89 



remaining entire, and whole mountains of unshapely 
ruins occupying a space of ground larger than the site of 
London. It was formerly one of the chief Indian cities, 
and is probably one of the most ancient. 

Muttra (lat. 27° 14/— 27° 58 / ; long. 77° 20'— 78° 34'; 
area, 1,612 sq. m.). — A wide expanse of plain, with a few 
hills on the western frontier. It is much exposed to the 
burning winds of the spring and early summer. In parts 
the soil is good, but much of the district is arid and 
sandy, mixed with kunkur. The water of the wells is 
brackish. The population is chiefly Hindu. The town 
of Muttra is on the right bank of the Jumna. It has a 
large ruined fort, and was once encircled by lofty fortifi- 
cations. It is regarded as sacred by the Hindus, as the 
birth-place of Kistna. Bindraban, eight miles to south- 
east of Muttra, is well situated, and the resort of pilgrims, 
owing to its association with the early life of Kistna. It 
has many buildings connected with Hindu worship. 
3STear Gov er dun are also interesting ruins. 

Mynpuri (lat. 26° 54'— 27° 50'; long. 78° 30'— 79° 30'; 
area, 1,666 sq. m.). — A level, well watered tract, the Jumna 
forming its southern boundary, and the Kali Nuddi its 
western for some distance. The Ganges Canal passes it, 
and the East Indian Railway runs through it. The 
climate is very hot in summer and cold in winter. The 
usual crops of the Doab are produced in abundance, and 
of good quality. The town (of the same name) is on the 
Esan, and is a favourable station for troops. 

Allahabad. — This division, nearly 13,600 square miles 
in extent, is partly in the Doab and partly south of the 
Jumna. It exhibits all the ordinary characters of the 
North- Western Provinces. There is excellent communi- 
cation through it by means of fine navigable rivers, good 
roads and railway. 

Allahabad (lat. 24° 49'— 25° 44' ; long. 81° 14—82° 26'; 
area, 2,765 sq. m.).— About one-third of this district 
is in the Doab, near the confluence of the Jumna and 



90 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Ganges, and about sixty feet above the water-level at the 
junction. The rest is not much higher. All parts are 
easily irrigated, vegetation is luxuriant, the country is 
overspread with valuable timber, and important crops of 
cotton, indigo, and sugar are grown. Salt is largely 
manufactured and exported. The town of Allahabad is 
at the confluence of the two streams. A very strong fort 
2,500 yards in circuit, and built of red stone, rises directly 
from the banks of the two streams. It contains an 
arsenal. An ancient palace, also within it, is used as 
officers' barracks. Allahabad is the seat of government of 
the North-Western Provinces, and though not noted for 
art or manufactures, is a place of great commerce, and is 
regarded as holy by the Hindus, who flock here at certain 
seasons to bathe in the united stream of the Ganges and 
the Jumna. Population, 105,000 ; distance N.W. from 
Calcutta, 498 miles; S.E. from Lucknow, 128. 

Band '-a* (or Bundelcund, South division), (lat. 24° 53' — 
25° 54'; long. 80° 3—81° 35' ; area, 3,030 sq. m.).— A 
fertile district, producing large quantities of wheat, barley, 
maize, millet, pulse, sugar, and indigo. The Banda cotton 
is well known in the market, and is largely exported. The 
town of Banda is large, straggling, and ill-built, but is a 
thriving place, with much trade in cotton. Calleenjwr is 
a celebrated fort, situated on a rocky hill of syenite, rising 
out of the plains of Bundelcund. It is a table-land, 
between four and five miles in circuit, very strongly 
fortified. It now contains only a few hamlets, but was 
formerly important. It contains numerous temples 
devoted to the worship of the Hindu god Siva. There 
is a town at the base of the hill. 

Caumpur (lat. 25° 55'— 27°; long. 79° 34—80° 37'? 
area, 2,353 sq. m.). — A district terribly celebrated, in con- 
sequence of its share in the mutiny of 1857. It is situated 



* Banda is a part of the extensive tract called Bundelcund, or 
the Bundela country. It is described in the account of Central 
India. (See p. 166). 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



91 



within the Doab, and is a nearly level tract, watered by- 
several streams, and crossed by the Ganges Canal. Millet, 
the sngar-cane, and maize thrive luxuriantly. Indigo, 
opium, and cotton are also grown, and the tobacco is 
celebrated. The chief town (of the same name) contains 
110,000 inhabitants. It is a military station, and the 
seat of a large trade. Being situated on the Ganges, 
which is there half a mile wide, and navigable from the 
sea, it is admirably adapted for trade. During the mutiny 
of 1857, the principal buildings were destroyed, and a 
number of Englishwomen and children murdered. 

Futtepur (lat. 25° 25'— 26° 13' ; long. 80° 12—81° 23' ; 
area, 1,580 sq. m.). — A district within the Doab, bounded 
on one side by the Ganges, and on another by the 
Jumna. The soil is fertile, and the climate dry, but 
subject to extreme variations in temperature. During^ 
spring it is represented as a " boundless garden." Beau- 
tiful groves of mangoes, tamarinds, and bananas over- 
shadow the village pagodas, mosques, and tanks, and give 
an ever- varying beauty to the landscape, which is animated 
by pilgrims, peasantry, travellers on foot and horseback, 
heavily laden carts and camels. The principal place bears 
the same name. It is a large, ancient, and thriving town, 
with good houses and an elegant mosque. There are 
several other towns. 

Hunrirpur (lat. 25° 7—26° 26'; long. 79° 20'— 80° 25'; 
area, 2,289 sq. m.). — A level tract, fertile in parts, and 
yielding the usual crops of the surrounding country. 
The cotton is very good. It is crossed by the Jumna and. 
other streams. The climate is hot and unfavourable to 
Europeans, though not to natives. The principal place 
(of the same name) is situated on a tongue of land at the 
confluence of the Betwa and Jumna. It is large, consist- 
ing originally of several villages grouped together. Dis- 
tance NW. from Calcutta, 575 miles. 

Jowvpur (lat. 25° 22'— 26° 12'; long. 82° 12'— 83° 10' ; 
area, 1,555 sq. m.). — A level tract, with a gentle declivity 
of six inches to the mile towards the SE. There is a 



92 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



large Hindu population, chiefly agricultural. The town 
of Jounjpicr is built on both banks of the Gumti, a 
navigable stream, crossed by a bridge nearly three cen- 
turies old, considered to be one of the finest in India 
among the constructions of that date. The town con- 
tains a vast massive stone fort, said to have been built in 
1370. There is a civil establishment and military canton- 
ment. Distance NW. from Benares, 35 miles. 

Benares. — A nearly flat fertile tract of country, crossed 
by many streams, covering an area of 18,330 square miles, 
stretching from the ISTepaul Terai on the north, to the 
Bundelcund plateau on the south. 

Azimc/ur (lat. 25° 36'— 26° 24'; long. 82° 45'— 84° 12' ; 
area, 2,553 sq. m.). — A thickly peopled district, with a 
number of small towns, crossed by several streams and 
roads. The chief place (also Azimgur) is on a small 
stream, and has extensive manufactures. 

Benares (lat. 25° 7— 25° 32'; long. 82° 45—83° 38'; 
area, 995 sq. m.). — This small district is exceedingly level, 
no part of it being more than 300 feet above the sea. It 
is crossed by the Ganges, and its climate is comparatively 
cool, though the mean temperature is 77°. It is crossed 
in various directions by roads, the railroad, and canals, and 
yields all the ordinary crops of the valley of the Ganges. 
The town of Benares is situated on the left bank of the 
Ganges, at a point where the river is nearly half a mile 
wide and fifty feet deep in the dry season. The stream 
forms a bay indenting the front of the town, and display- 
ing its peculiar and picturesque features to great advan- 
tage. It has been compared to Naples in this respect. 
The city rises from the river, spires, temples, ghats, or 
flights of broad steps, balconies, and lofty houses, inter- 
mixed with trees, walls, minarets, &c, all in close con- 
tiguity, giving it an air of a populous and densely built 
town. The streets are narrow, crooked, and crowded, and 
most of the business is transacted on the ghats. There 
may be seen at all hours thousands of people bathing, 



NOETH-TTESTEliN LNDIA. 



93 



praying, preaching, gossiping, bargaining, lounging, and 
sleeping. Pilgrims from all parts of India visit Benares, 
and crowds of fakirs may be seen in all the hideousness 
of filth, cow-dnng, disease, and deformity. The popula- 
tion is upwards of 200,000, a very large proportion being 
Hindus. The Hindu temples are wealthy and in good 
repair, while the mosques are deserted and in ruins. It 
has been described as the Jerusalem of Hindustan. It 
swarms with teachers of the Hindu worship, with Bra- 
minee bulls, and with devout, rich, corpulent, and active 
mendicants. The East Indian Eailway passes close to 
the city. Distance NW. from Calcutta, 421 miles. A 
few miles above the city is Chunar, a fortress and a 
station. Good freestone is obtained hence. Secrole, three 
miles distant, is the station ol the civil officers, and a 
military cantonment. 

Busti (lat 26°25 / — 27° 30'; long. 82° 20'— 83° 25'; area, 
2,804 sq. m.). — A district in the north-western part of the 
province between the Gagra river and the Terai, and 
crossed by the Bapti. The town of Busti has a bazaar, 
and is well supplied with good water. 

Gazipur (lat. 25° IT— 26°; long. 83° 8'— 84° 40'; area, 
2,195 sq. m.). — A nearly level district, crossed by several 
streams, and with one large and several smaller sheets of 
water. No part of the district is more than 350 feet 
above the sea. The climate is healthy, except in autumn, 
when fevers are common. It is very densely peopled, 
almost entirely by Hindus, and chiefly by agricultural 
labourers. The chief place is Gazipur. It is a large 
town on the Ganges, pleasing in appearance, but in ruins. 
At the eastern extremity is the palace of Cossim Ali, a 
Nawab of Bengal, infamous for his massacre of British 
prisoners in cold blood. It is a very interesting speci- 
men of Indian Saracenic architecture. Gazipur is cele- 
brated for its rose-water. The roses are cultivated in 
fields. The leaves are distilled with double their weight 
of water, and the rose-water thus obtained is poured into 
large shallow vessels, and exposed, uncovered, to the open 



94 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



air at niglit. The jars are skimmed occasionally for the 
atta. It takes a thousand roses to procure a grain of 
the essential oil, which is worth, on the spot, about a 
shilling. A quart of the best rose-water is worth about 
the same sum. Both rose-water and the atta are exposed 
to the full heat of the sun for at least a fortnight after 
being bottled. The atta is frequently adulterated with 
sandal oil. Gazipur is 431 miles NW. of Calcutta, and 
46 miles NE. of Benares. 

Goruchpur (lat. 26° T— 27° 30'; long. 82° 12'— 84° 30'; 
area, 4,584 sq. m.). — A large district, level, except in the 
east and south-east, where are some low ridges. There 
are many small lakes, called jils, some of them six or 
seven miles long and three miles broad. The climate in 
the south is hot, but not unhealthy. In the north it is 
less healthy. The population is very large, exceeding 
three millions, and chiefly Hindu. The chief town is 
Goruckjpur, situated on the left bank of the Eapti, a 
fine navigable river. It is large, but thinly peopled and 
unhealthy. Distance FW. from Calcutta, 420 miles. 

Mirzapur (lat. 23° 50'— 25° 30'; long. 82° ll 7 — 83° 39'; 
area, 5,200 sq. m.). — This district is level and alluvial in 
Ihe northern part, where it is a portion of the lower valley 
of the Ganges. In the southern part is a range of rocky 
uneven hills, connected with the Bindachal range. These 
are jungly and pestilential, but the general climate is 
represented as not more unhealthy than others adjacent. 
It is, however, cold in winter and very hot in summer. 
The population is almost exclusively Hindu, and exceeds 
1,000,000. Mirzwp<wr is the chief town. It is built on a 
ridge of kunkur, on the right bank of the Ganges. It 
looks imposing from a distance, but the houses are of 
mud. It is a great cotton mart, and is celebrated for its 
carpets. Population 80,000. It is a very wealthy place. 
Distance NW. from Calcutta, 448 miles ; S~\Y. from*Benares, 
27 miles. Chunar is a town on the Ganges, 21 miles E. of 
Mirzapur, remarkable for a strong fort, built on a rocky 
^eminence from 100 to 150 feet above the stream. The space 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



95 



enclosed is 750 yards in length, and 300 yards wide at the 
widest part. The ramparts are from ten to twenty feet 
high, with many towers. Within it is an ancient Hindu 
palace. Outside the town is an interesting tomb. 

Meerut. — This whole province is remarkably uniform. 
It covers an area of 11,000 square miles, watered by the 
Ganges and Jumna, and artificially irrigated by the 
Ganges canals. The soil is a loam, and yields good crops 
of wheat, barley, oats, pulses, tobacco, and European 
vegetables in the cold season, and rice, cotton, maize, 
indigo, and millet in the hot. There are some remarkably 
fertile strips of marshy land along the banks of the 
rivers. • 

Alligur (lat. 27° — 27° 28'; long. 77° 32'— 78° 47'; 
area, 1,858 sq. m.). — A level district in the Doab, with a 
prolonged elevation of the surface between the two rivers 
(the Ganges and the Jumna), thickly peojDled, yielding 
wheat, barley, millet, and pulse for home use, and indigo, 
cotton, tobacco, and sugar for export. There is a town 
and fort in the district of the same name. Co el, the civil 
station, connects with the town by a fine avenue of trees, 
two miles in length. It was a place of some importance 
in the twelfth century. 

Bulundslmr (lat. 28° 3' — 28° 43'; long. 77° 28' — 
78° 32'; area, 1,910 sq. m.).— A district in the Doab, 
resembling Alligur in its physical character and re- 
sources. The chief town is also Bulundslmr. It is on 
ihe right bank of the Kali Euddi, 40 miles SE. of Delhi. 
It is small, the population not exceeding 15,000. 

JDera Boon (lat. 30°— 30° 32'; long. 77° 43'— 78° 24'; 
area, 934 sq. m.). — A wide fertile valley, at the south- 
western foot of the lowest and outermost ridge of the 
Himalaya. The Sewalik range separates it from Saha- 
runpur. The length of the valley is 45 miles, and the 
breadth from 15 to 20 miles. It is drained by tributaries 
of the Jumna and Ganges. The mountains on the north- 
eastern frontier rise from 7,000 to 8,000 feet, the Sewalik 



96 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



range being from 3,000 to 3,500. The level of the water 
in the rivers is from 1,200 feet in the lower part of the 
district, to 1,470 feet in the higher, their difference repre- 
senting the natural slope of the ground. The Sewalik 
range is especially interesting to the geologist, from the 
large quantity of fossil bones of extinct animals of the 
tertiary period found there. The climate of the district is 
peculiar, the thermometer ranging at different seasons 
from 37° to 101° in the day. June is the hottest month. 
July, August, and September are unhealthy, being the 
times of periodical rain. There is much jungle, and the 
uncultivated part of the district is covered with dense and 
almost impenetrable forest. Both plants and animals are 
interesting to the naturalist. It is said that "every 
English plant thrives luxuriantly in the Doon, where 
in March, April, and May a splendid show of English 
flowers is to be seen in all the gardens." Rice, maize, 
pulse, cotton, sugar, opium, hemp, indigo, and plantain 
are the native crops. It is considered that there are 
100,000 acres of land adapted for the cultivation of tea, 
which is grown in large quantities. The principal town, 
Dera, is on the crest of a ridge 2,400 feet above the 
sea, in an extensive grove of mango trees. It is not 
very large, but contains good buildings and a handsome 
temple. Distance S~W. from Calcutta, 974 miles. At 
Gurudvjara, a large village, is an important annual fair. 
Mussouri is a sanatory station on the northern frontier, 
7,000 feet above the sea; and Landour, another almost 
adjoining, a thousand feet higher. The latter is a depot 
for sick soldiers. There is no level ground at either 
station, and most of the houses are built on terraces 
cut out of the solid rock. The views from them are 
beautiful, reaching on one side to the snowy peaks of 
the Himalaya, and looking down on the other to the 
valley of Dera, while, beyond the Sewalik Hills, the 
plains of Upper India are seen. There is good slate at 
Mussouri. All kinds of food are abundant, both at Mus- 
souri and Landour. Distance from Calcutta, 1,060 miles. 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



97 



Meerut (lat. 28° 33'— 29° 17'; long. 77° 12'— 78° 15'; 
area, 2,368 sq. m.). — A district forming part of the Doab. 
It is level, but with a ridge between the streams of the 
Ganges and Jumna, along which proceeds the line of 
the Ganges Canal. The climate is healthy, and favour- 
able for vegetation. Much wheat is grown in the cold 
season, on the same soil which in summer produces large 
crops of sugar, indigo, and cotton. The population is 
large, but not thickly agricultural. The principal town 
is Meerut. It is about midway between the Ganges and 
the Jumna, but the Kali Nuddi, here a small stream, 
runs three miles east of the town. The walls are exten- 
sive, and there are some interesting remains of ancient 
architecture, but the town is dirty and badly built. 
The cantonment is ten miles north of the town. GW- 
muktesar is the port of Meerut. 

Mozujfurnuggur (lat. 29° 10'— 29° 50'; long. 77° 6'— 
78° 10'; area, 1,650 sq. m.). — A level district, with a few 
sand-hills and a low ridge. Alluvial marshy tracts ex- 
tend along the banks of the Jumna and Ganges, which 
run through it. These marshes (called "Kadirs") are 
very fertile, but unhealthy. The population is not dense, 
and not largely agricultural. The products are those of 
the rest of the Doab. The town (of the same name) is 
large. It is on the West Kali Nuddi, distant FW. 
from Calcutta 984 miles. 

Saharunpur (lat. 29° 28'— 30° 26'; long. 77° 13'— 
78° 15'; area, 2,227 sq. m.). — A level district rising 
towards the base of the Sewalik hills, which rise pre- 
cipitously from the plain. There are two long ranges of 
sand-hills running from north to south, parallel with the 
course of the Ganges. Between one of these and the 
river is the Kadir, or marsh land, amounting to one- 
sixth of the whole area of the district. The climate is 
always comparatively cool, and it is absolutely cold from 
November to March. In April, however, there are hot 
winds. The soil is loam, with kunkur. The crops are 
those common throughout the Doab. Irrigation is sup- 



98 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

plied by the Doab Canal. Saharunpur is the principal 
town. It is on a small stream, in an open level country, 
surrounded by groves of mangoes and palms and enclo- 
sures of cactus. It possesses a botanic garden, which 
was under the care of the eminent botanists, Dr. Eoyle 
and Dr. Falconer, in succession. Great success has been 
obtained in the naturalization in the open air of the 
productions of various countries. The garden is of con- 
siderable size, containing nearly fifty acres of ground, and 
is tastefully laid out with walks and carriage-drives. 
Population, 40,000. Distance NW. from Calcutta, 1,007 
miles. Height above sea, 980 feet. Uurdwar, or Gan- 
gadwara, also Goupela, is on the west bank of the Ganges, 
and a celebrated place of pilgrimage. The bathing com- 
mences on the 10th of April, and a great fair is then 
held. Every twelfth year the fair and resort are very 
much greater than usual; as much as two millions of 
people assembling on these occasions. Hurdwar is an 
important stud depot. Distance from Calcutta, 924 miles. 
RurM has a large Civil Engineering establishment. 

Rollilcund. — An extensive tract lying to the east of the 
Ganges, between the Doab and the mountains. It includes 
an area of about 11,700 square miles. In its physical cha- 
racteristics it resembles the Doab. The soil is fertile, and 
where there is jungle it is dense and impenetrable. The 
Rohilla Patans or Eohillas occupied this province during 
the last century. 

Bareilly (lat. 28° 2'— 29° 19'; long. 79° 4'— 80° 12'; 
area, 2,925 sq. m.). — A level district with a fine climate, 
colder in winter than might be expected from the latitude, 
and suffering little from hot winds. The soil is fertile and 
highly cultivated. The population is nearly a million and 
a half. Bareilly is the chief town. It is pleasantly 
situated, 788 miles from Calcutta, and is a considerable 
though decayed place, with much trade and some manu- 
factures. Futegung is a thriving populous town, 12 miles 
NW. of Bareilly. ' 



NORTH- WESTERN INDIA. 



9£ 



Bijnour (lat. 28° 54'— 29° 58'; long. 78° 1'— 78° 53'; 
area, 1,884 sq. m.). — A district chiefly remarkable for the 
successful culture of the sugar-cane. It is watered by 
two streams, the Koh and the Eamgunga. The chief town 
is Bijnour. It is not large, but is the seat of government. 
Distance NW. from Calcutta, 800 miles. 

Budaon (lat. 27° 38'— 28° 39'; long. 78° 21'— 72° 35' ; 
area, 1,971 sq. m.). — A low, level, and generally fertile dis- 
trict, watered by the Ganges and other streams. It is 
thickly peopled, almost entirely by Hindus. Its chief 
town is Budaon. It has a population exceeding 20,000. 

Moradabad (lat. 28° 15'— 29° 27'; long. 78° 10'— 79° 24'; 
area, 2,461 sq. m.). — The northern and north-eastern parts 
of this district are 1,000 feet above the sea, and the coun- 
try slopes gently from that direction to the south at the 
rate of ten feet in a mile. Near the base of the hills is 
marsh land (Terai), with many springs and streams, luxu- 
riant vegetation, and deadly malaria. There are marshes, 
also, near the Ganges, but these are less injurious, and 
yield enormous crops. There are many wells throughout 
the district, water existing at moderate depth. The climate 
of the greater part of the district is more congenial and 
pleasant to Europeans than that of any other part of India, 
and the atmosphere is dry and clear. The cold in winter is 
very severe, descending even sometimes to 10° below zero 
of Fahrenheit. The hot winds are irregular and unsteady. 
The rains are limited generally to July and August, 
when they are heavy. Agriculture succeeds well in Mora- 
dabad, the crops being very varied. Maize and millet are 
the chief sources of food to the lower classes ; but almost 
every variety of esculent vegetation may be grown with 
little difficulty. The population is very dense, exceeding 
400 to a square mile. The chief town is Moradabad. It 
is built on a ridge of ground on the right bank of the 
Hamgunga. It is the civil station, and had formerly a 
mint. There is one street about a mile long; but the 
public buildings are few and insignificant. Distance 1STW. 
from Calcutta, 838 miles. 

7 * 



100 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Sliajehanjiur, including the Terai Pergunnas, (lat. 
27° 15'— 28° 45'; long. 79° 23'— 80° 30'; area, 2,446 
sq. m.). — These districts are about 800 feet above the sea 
in the northern extremity, descending to 500 feet on the 
southern frontier. The descent, however, is gradual. The 
pergunnas in the north are part of the Terai, a tract of 
marshy forest and jungle, stretching along the foot of the 
mountains. Innumerable small springs, oozing from the 
hills, and rising in the ground near their foot, saturate the 
soil and give growth to gigantic trees, encumbered above 
with air plants, and below with impenetrable underwood. 
Grasses and other herbage, attaining a height of ten feet, 
overrun the more open parts, and are annually set on fire 
to allow of a more succulent growth, which is fed down 
for about two months by numerous herds of kine and 
buffaloes. A malaria broods over the whole region, fatal 
to man and domesticated animals, but not affecting the 
elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, panther, leopard, wild buffalo, 
deer, and other wild animals, which there attain extra- 
ordinary size and vigour. This tract gives rise to a large 
river, and is no^doubt capable of drainage and improve- 
ment. The southern part of Shajehanpur has a fine 
climate, little incommoded by hot winds. The town of 
Shajehanpur is on the left bank of the Gurra. It is a 
large place, with some stately old mosques and a castle, 
which are ruinous. There is, however, a fair amount of 
trade. Powain, 18 m. KB.; Tillmr, 12 m. TOW.; are 
other towns of small importance. 



Non-Regulation Provinces. 

Ajmir. — An outlying province of 2,672 sq. miles, sur- 
rounded by Eajput states, and in the centre of Eajputana. 

Ajmir (lat. 25° 43'— 26° 42'; long. 74° 22'— 75° 33'; 
area, 2,029 sq. m.). — The southern part is sandy and level, 
the northern and western parts hilly, and traversed by 
ridges of the Aravalli mountains. It is crossed by a few 
channels, only carrying water in the^rainy season,*so that 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



101 



water for cultivation depends on the reservoirs or tanks 
which are scattered in abundance through the district. 
The soil is impregnated with mineral salts, which injure 
the water. In the mountains are veins of carbonate of 
lead, worked from time immemorial. There are also ores 
of manganese, and indications of copper, besides good iron 
ore. The population is about 250,000. The chief town 
(of the same name) is beautifully situated at the base 
and on the slope of a hill. Some of the streets are wide, 
and the houses handsome. It contains a large arsenal 
and military magazine ; and in the neighbouring hills is a 
sanatorium. 

Mairwarra (lat. 25° 25'— 26° 10'; long. 73° 50'— 
74° 30'; area, 372 sq. m.). — This very small district is a 
portion of the Aravalli range, consisting of alternate 
ridges and valleys, the bottoms of the valleys about 1,600 
feet above the sea, and the ridges about 1,000 feet higher. 
Lead, copper, and antimony ores occur in the hills ; cotton, 
opium, rice, wheat, millet, and barley are the staple 
products of the valleys. The inhabitants are called 
Mairs, a savage independent race. The principal place is 
Nya Nuggur, a newly established town. 

Jansi. — A small province, consisting of a narrow strip 
of territory, extending from the Jumna, north of 
Allahabad division, towards the south-west, into Central 
India. It was originally a part of the Bundela country, 
or Bundelcund {see p. 166). 

Jaloun (lat. 25° 32'— 26° 26'; long. 78° 45'— 79° 53'; 
area, 1,544 sq. m.). — One of the districts in Bundelcund 
now belonging to British India. The town of Jaloun 
was formerly a considerable mart for inland traffic, and 
is still important. Galjpi is a town of 19,000 inhabitants, 
having an extensive trade, and manufacturing paper and 
sugar-candy. It is one of the hottest places in India. 

Jansi (lat. 24° 55'— 25° 48'; long. 77° 53'— 79° 31'; 
area, 1,610 sq. m.).— A district in Bundelcund, divided 
into two parts, separated by a narrow slip of native 



102 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



territory, belonging to the Eaja of Teliri. The town 
of Jen ( si is ranch frequented by caravans, and has a 
considerable trade in cloth and carpets. It is also 
noted for the manufacture of bows, arrows, and spears. 
On a rock, overlooking the town, is a lofty castellated 
building of stone, surmounted by a huge round tower. 
It is a fortress built by the Mahrattas. There is another 
hill, half a mile south-east of that on which the town is 
built. Distance ISL'W. from Calcutta, 740 miles. 

Lullutpur (area 1,947 sq. m.) is a district south of Jansi 
with a small town of the same name. 

Kumaon. — An extensive province, including the two 
districts of Kumaon and Gurwal, having a total area of 
11,500 square miles and 600,000 inhabitants. The southern 
portion (the Babur) is densely wooded, and destitute of 
streams. Northwards there are rugged mountain masses 
rising into peaks, many of them above the snow-line. 
The sides and slopes of some of these mountains are 
extremely fertile, and many of the valleys are ravines 
clothed with jungle throughout. In this northern part 
are many streams, all feeding the Ganges. The general 
appearance of the province is highly picturesque. Besides 
the vegetable produce, gold is found in the streams, and 
both copper and iron ores abound. 

Guriual {British), (lat. 30° 2'— 31° 20'; long. 77° 55'— 
79° 20'; area, 5,500 sq. m.). — This district extends over the 
south-western dechvity of the Himalaya, consisting of a 
lofty mountain range and deep valley. Some of the 
mountain peaks are upwards of 20,000 feet above the 
sea : the highest is estimated to exceed 23,000 feet. The 
climate is hot in the low tracts on the river banks, 
moderate in the lower regions of mountains, but in the 
northern part rises above the limits of perpetual congela- 
tion. Monkeys are numerous as high as SvM, which 
is 8,869 feet above the sea, and in latitude 31°. The crops 
in the cooler part of the district include wheat, barley, 
buckwheat, and other grains, pulse of various sorts, and 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



103 



oil-seeds. The natives are short in stature: their com- 
plexions are less dark than those of the Hindus generally, 
but the hair is invariably dark, with little growth of 
beard. They are probably a mixed race of Mongol and 
Indo-European. They inhabit houses substantially built 
in three stories. Cattle-stalls are on the ground floor, a 
granary in the middle, and the family live on the upper 
floor. The roof is nearly flat. They are mild and peace- 
able, but pilfering is not unknown. The chief town is 
Sri Nuggur, a decayed place on the left bank of the 
Aluknanda, a feeder of the Ganges. The civil station is 
Puri. At Badrinath, 10,000 feet above the sea, is a hot 
sulphur spring. At Banassa are thermal springs. 

Kumaon (lat. 29° 5'— 31° 6'; long. 78° 17'— 80° 56'; 
area, 6,000 sq. m.). — A mountainous tract, exhibiting 
extraordinary diversities of elevation, temperature, and 
climate. The southern part is forest-land or marsh, 
beyond which is a dry table-land of considerable elevation. 
The northern part rises into some of the loftiest peaks of 
the Himalaya, as many as thirty-four summits rising 
above 18,000 feet. Gold has been obtained from the river 
sands, but not in large quantities. There are lead and 
copper ores, but they have not been worked to profit. 
The climate varies from the suffocating and deadly sultri- 
ness of the Terai to the eternal snows of the Himalaya. 
Snow falls occasionally, but not oftener than about one 
season in three. Both the botany and zoology of the 
district are interesting. Leopards and bears are trouble- 
some : the tiger is a great scourge. The cheang, an equine 
quadruped, is seen, but rarely obtained alive. The spotted 
axis is found in the higher mountain tracts. Large flocks 
of sheep are bred on the mountains, both for the sake of 
their wool, and to be employed as beasts of burden. 
There are many passes over the mountains to Tibet, the 
traffic over them being carried on by the Botias, who 
occupy the higher valleys. The people of the province 
are chiefly Hindus, and their religion is a mixed Bramin- 
ism and Paganism, almost every peak, forest, rock, and 



104 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

spring having its presiding deity. Almora, the chief 
town, is in the centre of the province, in a beautiful and 
highly cultivated country, whose climate is said to be like 
that of Nice. There are quarries of stone and slate in 
the neighbourhood. The houses of the civil officers are 
not at Almorah, but at Hawulbag, five miles distant. 
Distance of Almora NW. from Calcutta, 910 miles. 
Nyni Tal, twenty-two miles from Almorah, is the 
sanatorium of the province. It is situated on the borders 
of a beautiful lake, 7,000 feet above the sea. 



6. Otjde. 

This great province, stretching from 25° 34' to 29° 6' N. 
lat., and from 79° 45' to 83° 11' E. long., having a super- 
ficial area of 22,456 square miles, occupies the centre 
of the great sub-Himala} r a valley. The Ganges is its 
southern boundary. Its general surface is a plain, sloping 
from north-west to south-east, yielding exuberant crops. 
The G-agra, its principal river (after the Ganges), is navi- 
gable for steamboats. The Chowka is its chief tributary. 
The Gumti, and many feeders, traverse the country from 
NW. to SE. The climate is dry during part of the 
year, and there is a rainy season. In summer the ther- 
mometer rises to 112°, in winter it sinks below the freezing 
point. The annual rain-fall varies from thirty to eighty 
inches. The plains are subject to hot sultry winds from 
the west, and occasional fierce hurricanes. The soil is 
exceedingly fertile, the staple products being wheat, 
barley, maize, bajra, rice, pulse, oil-seed, sugar-cane, 
indigo, opium, and cotton. Saltpetre and soda are also 
largely obtained and exported. Teak and other valuable 
timber trees (local names, " Sal," " Sissu," and " Toon ") 
are common in the forests. The trade of the province is 
very considerable. Oude is governed by a Chief Commis- 
sioner, assisted by four Commissioners, each presiding 



NORTH- WESTERN INDIA. 



105 



over five districts. The divisions are Lucknow, Kyrabad, 
Baiswara, and Fyzabad. 

The population is 6,502,884, and consists largely of 
Hindus, most of whom are Rajputs, a people exhibiting 
in their appearance, conversation, and habits of life, a 
proud and martial character, who are accustomed to the 
use of arms and athletic exercises from infancy, and who 
prefer military service to every other means of livelihood. 
They have always furnished the armies of Hindustan 
with most of their finest men. 

Oude was a part of the territory of the sovereigns of 
Delhi until about 1760, when it was taken possession of 
by the Viceroy, who had charge of it under the Mogul, 
and raised into a separate kingdom. After this there 
was a succession of rulers, more or less under British 
influence and protection, lasting for nearly a century. In 
the year 1856, however, after much bad government, and 
on the refusal of the then king to sign a treaty accepting 
the direct interference of the British Government, the 
country was annexed. The king and his relatives were 
largely pensioned, the fortresses which covered the country 
were demolished, the people disarmed, and law and order 
enforced. Roads have since been made, bridges built, 
police, gaols, hospitals, and schools established, and Oude 
is now becoming in every j respect one of the foremost 
countries in India. The proposed Lahore and Peshawur 
railway will cross Oude completely from NW. to SE., 
following the valley of the Gumti. 

The principal town is Luclcnow, the capital and the 
seat of government. Population, 300,000. It is situated 
on the right bank of the Gumti, which is navigable for 
some distance above the city, and below it as far as the 
Ganges, and so to the sea. The stream is crossed by two 
bridges. Lucknow presents a varied, lively, and even bril- 
liant aspect, when viewed from a distance ; but is meanly 
built, the houses being constructed of mud and straw 
roofs. It ^is, however, extensive, a continuous mass of 
buildings extending for about four miles along the bank 



106 



GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA. 



of the river. Parallel to this, for about a mile, is a wide 
street, handsome, and with many fine buildings; and 
between this street (called the Chinka Bazaar) and the 
river, is the residence formerly occupied by the king. In 
the north-western part of the city is the celebrated 
" Imambara," or chief mosque, one of the most elegant 
and beautiful specimens of the light and fantastic style of 
Mahoniedan architecture in existence. It consists of a 
series of buildings of great extent. There are many other 
interesting buildings, among them an observatory : dis- 
tance from Calcutta, 640 miles. Lucknow is connected 
with Cawnpore by rail. 

Ov.de, the former capital of the kingdom, is on both 
banks of the river Gagra, and adjoins the more recent 
city of Fyzabad. Oude is more interesting for its ruins, 
which are believed to be of extreme antiquity, than for its 
present beauty. It enjoys the reputation of having once 
extended 200 miles in length, and 50 miles in breadth; 
and it is asserted that Lucknow, 80 miles from the 
present city, has' been one of its suburbs. However this 
may be, Oude is still a large and populous city, and is 
much venerated by the Hindus. Fyzabad, also called 
Bangala, is in some sense a decayed place, though 
improving since the British occupation, and now a con- 
siderable commercial town, with manufactures of cloth, 
metal, vessels, and arms. Boy Bareilly, fifty-four miles 
from Lucknow, situated on the river Sai. Bwrraitch, 
Pertabgur, Gonda, and Seetapur, are other towns of 
importance. 

7. The Pex.jae. 

General Account. — This extensive territory, one of the 
most important in X orth- Western India, is so called from 
two Persian words, signifying " five rivers," in reference 
to the five great streams that run through it. These are 
the Indus, the Jelum, the Chenab, the Bavi, and the 



NORTH- WESTERN INDIA. 



107 



Sutlej. The country extends from the River Jnmna on 
the east to the Suliman mountains on the west, and from 
Cashmere in the north to Eajputana and Sind on the 
south. (Its limits of latitude are 27|°— 35°, and of 
longitude 69° — 79°.) The area is 95,768 square miles. 
The total population, taken in 1868, is estimated at 
17,593,946, very irregularly distributed. 

The northern and southern parts of the Punjab differ 
very greatly in physical features. In the north-east 
angle is the Alpine region of Kangra. The north-west 
angle is also mountainous, the entire tract being in- 
tersected by mountain ranges, and consisting of a series 
of valleys encircled by hills. The remainder is plain 
country, divided naturally into four sections, called 
Doabs,* stretching south-west with a regularity rarely 
broken by any elevation of importance; but declining 
imperceptibly from about 1,600 feet above the sea, at 
Jelum, to 230 feet at Mithun Kote. 'No country enjoys 
more largely than the Punjab the means of irrigation 
and internal navigation, owing to its noble rivers, which, 
though so far from the sea, are all magnificent streams. 
The soil consists chiefly of sand and clay, and is almost 
without stones. The rivers easily and constantly wear 
away their banks and shift their directions, never 
pursuing exactly the same course for two years in suc- 
cession. Towns and villages, therefore, except where 
limestone and other hard rocks occur, are usually at some 
distance from the rivers, and cultivation does not extend 
to their banks. Wherever water is obtainable for irrigation 
the soil is extremely productive ; elsewhere it is altogether 



* The Doabs are Bari Doab, between the Beas and the Ravi ; 
Reechna Doal, between the Eavi and the Chenab ; J etch Doab, 
between the Chenab and the Jelum ; Sind Sagur, or ' i Ocean 
of the Indus," between the Jelum and the Indus. The Bari 
Doab is the most important, as containing the home of the Sikh 
nation, and the three great cities of Lahore, Amritsur, and 
Multan. 



108 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



arid, or covered with low brushwood, jungle, and reed- 
grass. This is the case in the centre of each Doab, and 
affords almost boundless grazing ground for camels, 
cattle, buffaloes, sheep, and goats. The climate is cha- 
racterized by much drought, the rain-fall being nowhere 
great. The rivers are fed by the melting of the snows, 
and inundate the country in the month of July, which is 
also the rainy season. The hot weather begins about the 
middle of April, and the heat is almost intolerable from 
that time till August, being greater, indeed, than else- 
where in India. Frequent dust-storms then occur, and 
on calm days spiral columns of dust arise and travel 
onward, whirling round continually for one or two miles 
before subsiding. Mirage is then common. In September 
the heat moderates. October is temperate and agreeable, 
and from November to April it is cold. Frosts occur at 
night ; but during the day, even at that season, the ther- 
mometer rises to 70°. 

The most important products are wheat, barley, millet, 
rice, cotton, hemp, indigo, tobacco, sugar-cane, and 
pulses. Oil-seeds, melons, cucumbers, and saffron are 
largely grown, and dates, figs, oranges, mangoes, and 
other fruits are common. Flax thrives, and tea is grown 
on the hills. There is little timber, and large trees are 
very scarce. 

Among wild animals, lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, 
lynxes, martens, stoats, hyaenas, wolves, bears, jackals, 
foxes, otters, wild hogs, porcupines, nilghaus, deer of 
many kinds, monkeys, and bats, including the vampire 
bat, may be named. Camels, buffaloes, horses, and sheep 
are domesticated. Birds include eagles, kites, parrots, pea- 
fowl, pheasants, partridges, and land and water- fowl. The 
rivers contain alligators and many kinds of fish. There 
are many venomous land reptiles. The silk- worm thrives, 
and bees make excellent honey and wax. Noxious insects 
are numerous, and the sand-fly in the hot season is worse 
than the mosquito. 

The people include (1) Sikhs (see note, p. 111). They 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



109 



are very numerous in some parts, especially about Amrit- 
sur and Lahore. (2) Jabs. These form the bulk of the 
agriculturists, and are found in all parts east of the 
Indus. Their chief home is in the Bari Doab. (3) Fa- 
tans, who inhabit the country west of the Indus. (4) 
Goojurs, probably aborigines, and devoted to agriculture. 
The language commonly spoken by the country people 
is called Punjabi, and is a branch of the Indo- Germanic 
family. In the large towns, Hindi is chiefly used, and 
in the south, near Sind, Hindi is mixed with Sindi. 
Urdu and Hindi, Persian and English, are taught in 
the schools. Most of the people (about two-thirds of the 
whole) are Mahomedans, half the remainder Sikhs, and 
the rest Hindus. The Sikhs admit no distinctions of 
caste. The bulk of the people are very poor, and live in 
wretched mud-built cottages, in villages and small towns. 
The condition of all classes is steadily improving, though 
in the remote North- Western Provinces the people are 
still in a very rude state. Agriculture is the chief occu- 
pation, but the manufacturing industry is very consider- 
able and important. Silk and cotton goods are extensively 
made in most of the large towns, especially in Lahore, 
Amritsur, Multan, Shujabad, and Leia. The silks of 
Multan are called Kais, and are noted in the Indian 
markets. Strong cotton cloths are made at Eohun 
and Hoshiyapur. Carpets, like those of Persia and little 
inferior to Cashmere, brocades and rich silks, and arms 
are made at Lahore. 

The Punjab is under the control of a Lieutenant- 
Governor. There are ten provinces, subdivided into 
thirty -two districts. Over each province is a Com- 
missioner, and each district is placed in charge of a 
Deputy Commissioner. The administration of justice is 
supervised by a Judicial Commissioner, and the manage- 
ment of the revenue is in the hands of a Commissioner 
of Finance. 

The education of the Punjab is superintended by in- 
spectors, assisted by native deputy inspectors and several 



110 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



sub-deputy inspectors. There are four educational circles, 
and over each is an inspector. There is a director over 
all. There are two colleges and many schools, of different 
degrees of advancement. In 1864-5, the number of 
schools was 2,625, with 92,000 pupils. More has been 
done for female education in the Punjab than elsewhere 
in India. 

The greater part of the Punjab was annexed to the 
British dominions at the close of the Punjab war in 1849. 
At that time the country was almost a wilderness ; its 
highways were unsafe, its resources wasted, and its 
people in misery. The introduction of regular govern- 
ment, effective police, and better education, the suppres- 
sion of national crimes, greatly improved means of com- 
munication, and canals rendering irrigation easy, have 
already led to increased cultivation and general pros- 
perity. 

The means of communication in the Punjab include 
rivers and canals, ordinary roads and railroads. The 
rivers are shallow, and the boats therefore made so as 
to draw but little water. They are usually heavy, broad, 
sharp at both ends, and carry ten or twelve tons. Down 
stream they go at the rate of two miles an hour. Against 
the current they are tracked along the shore, or have a 
large sheet to take advantage of a favourable breeze. 
The canals are numerous, but not much used for naviga- 
tion. First-class roads have been constructed, and rail- 
ways are now in operation. These are described in 
pp. 39, 40. There is complete telegraphic communication 
with all the principal towns. 

Canals are in course of construction, which will, when 
completed, secure a complete system of irrigation for all 
the doabs or interspaces between the great rivers of the 
Punjab. Nothing but water is required to secure large 
crops in all seasons. 

There are thirty-four native states in various degrees 
of feudal subordination to the government of the Punjab, 
and a treaty of alliance has been made with Afghanistan. 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA 



111 



The Lieutenant- Governor is also in constant communica- 
tion with other states of Central Asia. 

Many of the districts of the Punjab are in the Sikh 
country, or Sirhind. # 

Amritsur, or Umritsur. — A small province near La- 
hore, between the Chenab and the Beas, crossed by the 
Eavi and several smaller streams. The northern extre- 
mity touches Cashmere. Its area is 5,337 sq. miles. 

Gurdaspur (lat. 31° 30'— 32° 31' ; long. 74° 55'— 75° 43'; 
area, 1,341 sq. m.). — A district bounded on the north by 
Cashmere, and intersected both by rivers and canals. 
Chordaspur and Adin Nuggur are the towns. 

Sealcot (lat. 32°— 32° 45'; long. 75° 8'— 76°; area, 1,960 
sq. m.) is to the west of Gurdaspur. The town is on 
the left bank of the Chenab. 

Amritsur, or Umritsur (lat. 31° ll 7 — 32° 15' ; long. 74° 21' 
—75° 28'; area, 2,036 sq. m.).— A district bounded by the 
Eivers Eavi and Beas to the east, and by the provinces 
of Gurdaspur and Lahore to the north and south. The 
town of Amritsur is a populous city, in the centre of the 
district. It is a place of pilgrimage, containing a cele- 
brated reservoir, or tank, called " the fountain of immor- 
tality." It is fed by springs of very pure water ; and on 



* Sirhind, or the Sikh country, is an extensive territorial 
division of Hindustan, reaching on the north to the Punjab, and 
bounded on the east by several Hill states and British districts, on 
the south by Rotuk and Hurriana, and on the west by the state 
of Bawalpur. It is a vast level plain, 17,000 square miles in 
extent, rising towards the NE. in the direction of the lower ridges 
of the Himalaya. It was held till lately by native chieftains. The 
people are called Sikhs, or disciples, and are followers of a 
religious enthusiast who, in the middle of the fifteenth century, 
introduced certain modifications of Braminism. Two centuries 
later there was a subdivision introduced into two great sects, the 
Kalisa, the old Sikhs, and the Sings, or Lions. The former 
more resemble Hindus. 



112 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



an island in the middle is a richly decorated temple of 
Yishnn. It has also a large fortress, bnilt by Runjeet 
Sing. Amritsnr has several manufactures of coarse 
calico and inferior silks and shawls. The streets are 
narrow ; but the houses are built of burnt brick, and are 
better than those of many districts. A very large transit 
trade is carried on through Amritsur; and the place is 
said to be increasing rapidly. 

Cis-Sutlej States, or Umballa— A province of about 
4,000 sq. m., comprising a group of districts south of the 
Sutlej river. 

Ludiana (lat. 30° 34'— 31° 2'; long. 75° 25'— 76° 25'; 
area, 1,359 sq. m.). — A district in Sirhind, on the left 
bank of the Sutlej, near its confluence with the Beas. 
The chief town is Ludiana. It is built on a bluff rising 
about thirty feet above a nullah or ravine, parallel to the 
Sutlej, which it enters fifteen miles below, and of which it 
was once the channel. It is modern, and has considerable 
trade. The greater part of the inhabitants are weavers of 
strong calico. Shawls are also made. Distance NW. 
from Calcutta, 1,102 miles. 

Simla (lat. 31° 6'; long. 77° 14'; area, 18 sq. m.).— A very 
small district, between seven and nine thousand feet above 
the sea, in which is a celebrated sanatorium, or retreat 
for persons whose health is affected by the extreme heat 
of the plains of India. Simla is on a ridge terminated at 
each end by lofty peaks, and the views from the town are 
very noble. The snowy summits of the great Himalaya 
chain are distant about sixty miles, but appear much 
nearer when their outline is cut out against the clear sky 
in fine weather. The climate is exceedingly healthy ; the 
thermometer seldom rising above 62° Fahr., except in 
May, J une, and July, when it reaches 72°. These are the , 
rainy months, and during the rest of the year the climate 
is delightful. Snow falls in January and February, but 
does not remain on the ground more than two or three 
days. The people are poor, but simple and tractable, 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



113 



and the practice of polyandry is common among them, 
one woman having five or six husbands. It is governed 
by a Deputy Commissioner and there is always a large 
nnmber of English residents. Distance NW. from Cal- 
cutta, 1,097 miles. 

Umballa, or Amballa (lat. 29° 50' — 31° 8'; long. 
76° 30'— 77° 40'; area, 2,628 sq. m.).— A narrow strip of 
territory in Sirhind, reaching from the Sutlej to the 
Jumna, and crossed by a number of streams proceeding 
from the southernmost and lowest ridge of the Himalaya. 
It is level and well cultivated, abounding in groves of 
mango trees, and capable of furnishing abundant supplies. 
Umballa, the chief place in the district, is a large walled 
town, of very narrow streets, with a fort at the north-east 
corner. The climate is very hot. Distance NW. from 
Calcutta, 1,020 miles. Thunnesir is built on an irregular 
mound, formed by the ruins of a former city. The place 
is surrounded by a ruinous wall, connected with a dilapi- 
dated fort. Outside the town is a picturesque Mussulman 
tomb, also in ruins. At a short distance from the town 
is the lake of Kurket, about a mile long and half a mile 
wide. It is sacred in Hindu mythology. Distance NW. 
from Calcutta, 988 miles. 

Delhi. — This important province has an area of about 
5,600 square miles. It occupies a long strip of territory 
on the right bank of the Jumna, between that river and a 
group of Sikh protected States. It was formerly within 
the Government of the North- Western Provinces. 

Delhi (lat. 28° 24'— 28° 54'; long. 76° 49'— 77° 29'; 
area, 1,227 sq. m.). — A small district, with a population of 
about half a million, more than a third being concentrated 
in the city of Delhi and its suburbs. The soil is barren 
and rocky, and remarkable for its saline efflorescence. 
The wells yield brackish water. The climate is dry and 
favourable. It is intensely hot in summer, and is exposed 
to considerable cold in winter. Irrigation is needed for the 
crops, which are chiefly barley, wheat, and pulse. The 



114 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



city of Delhi is the Home of India in all that relates to 
the remains of ancient grandenr. The ancient city is said 
to have extended thirty miles along the banks of the 
Jumna, and, approaching the modem city from the direc- 
tion of Agra, the appearance is very striking, from the 
innumerable ruinous monuments of former prosperity 
and grandeur. " Everywhere throughout the plain rise 
shapeless half-ruined obelisks, the relics of massive Patau 
architecture, their bases buried under heaps of stones 
bearing a dismal growth of thorny shrubs. Everywhere 
one treads on overthrown walls. Brick mosaics mark the 
ground-plan of the humbler dwellings of the poorer classes. 
Among the relics of a remote age are occasionally to be 
seen monuments of a light and elegant style of architecture, 
embellished with brilliant colours, gilt domes, and min- 
arets encased in enamelled tiles. The ancient city was 
called Indraprestha, or Ind&rput, and appears to have 
existed in the tenth century. At the end of the four- 
teenth century it was invaded by Tamerlane, and after- 
wards became the capital of the territory of the potentate 
popularly called the 6 Great Mogul.' The modern city 
was founded in 1631. It is about seven miles in circum- 
ference, and enclosed on three sides by a fine wall, inter- 
rupted towards the river. There are large bastions at 
intervals, a ditch, and a glacis. The number of gates is 
eleven. The principal street (the Chandney Choke) is 
broad and handsome ; the architecture of the houses 
varied, and fronted by trees. The other streets are 
narrower, but clean. The city contains several splendid 
palaces, of which the imperial palace is about a mile in 
circuit. It is enclosed by a wall of red granite, forty feet 
high, flanked with turrets and cupolas, and is entered by 
a succession of noble and lofty gateways, all of red 
granite, highly sculptured. The details are superb, and 
in the best style of Oriental Gothic. The Jumma Musjid, 
or mosque, is the finest edifice of its kiud in Upper India. 
There are several other fine mosques. Near the city is 
an enormous observatory. Nine miles distant is the 



NORTH- WESTERN INDIA. 



115 



Kuttub Minar 3 probably tlie highest column in the world. 
It is 242 feet high, and was erected by the Emperor 
Kuttub, who died a.d. 1210. It tapers regularly from the 
base to the cupola, which is said to hold a dozen persons.'* 
Delhi is 976 miles from Calcutta. 

Gurgaon (lat. 27° 40'— 28° 30'; long. 76° 21'— 77° 35'; 
area, 2,016 sq. m.). — A low, level, fertile tract on the right 
bank of the Jumna ; the surface of the country being 
furrowed by deep chasms and ravines, marking the course 
of the torrents descending to the river. In certain places 
the ground is saturated with salt, and constantly covered 
with efflorescent crystals during hot weather; and here 
the water is brackish, or even salt. In other places, often 
nearly adjacent, the soil is free from salt and fertile, and 
the water perfectly fresh. Occasionally fresh water is 
obtained in shallow wells ; but a few feet lower the salt 
layer is reached. Salt is largely manufactured. The 
chief town is Gurgaon. It is at the foot of a range of 
hills, and is distant SW. from Delhi 18 mites; NW. 
from Calcutta 918 miles. Ferozpur is a walled town of 
10,000 inhabitants, near which iron ore is worked. 

Panvput, or Kurnal (lat. 28° 50'— 29° 48' ; long. 76° 40' 
— 77° 16' ; area, 2,352 sq. m.). — A level district, intersected 
by the Delhi Canal. Where not irrigated it is barren, and, 
like G-urgaon, there are many parts covered with saline 
incrustations. With irrigation, which is easy, excellent 
crops are obtained. The town of Paniput is the chief 
place. It is walled ; and around it are ruins of ancient 
buildings and tombs, indicating a much more important 
place in former times. On the plains around many of 
the great battles of India have been fought. Distant 1ST. 
from Delhi 78 miles; NW. from Calcutta 965 miles. 
Kurnal is a large but filthy town, with a handsome 
mosque. 

Derajat- — A province including about 12,500 sq. m. of 
the alluvial plain that stretches eastwards from the 
Suliman mountains. Where not irrigated, it is smooth, 

8 * 



116 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



hard, and clayey, bare of grass, but with bushes and low 
trees here and there, seldom reaching twenty feet in 
height. Loose and irreclaimable sand sometimes takes 
the place of clay. The whole plain is called the Daman,* 
or Border ; and the portion of it called the Derajat is so 
named from the three towns, Dera Ismael Khan, Dera 
Futti Khan, and Dera Ghazi Khan, which it contains ; 
the word Dera meaning camp, and Futti, Ghazi, and. 
Ismael the names of Elian s, or chiefs, of marauding 
tribes. Where duly irrigated, the clay is very pro- 
ductive. 

Dera Gazi Khan (lat. 28° 25'— 30° 32'; long. 69° 15'— 
71° 5'; area, 2,319 sq. m.). — The most southerly part of 
the Derajat. The town of Dera Gazi Elian is large, 
populous, and busy. It is about four miles from the 
Indus ; and not only has an extensive transit trade, but 
has several manufactures. The 1 Gazi,' whose name it 
bears, nourished about three centuries ago. 

Dera Ismael Elian (lat. 30° 3V— 32° 22' ; long. 69° 40'— 
71° 15'; area, 7,096 sq. m.). — The continuation northwards 
of the tract of which Dera Gazi Khan is a part, on the 
right bank of the Indus. The town of Dera Ismael 
Khan is ill-built and dull, but of some size, and not 
without considerable business, especially in spring. The 
situation is very good for trade, though rather dangerous, 
as the whole town was carried away a few years ago by 
an inundation. The modern town is, however, further 
from the river. 

L&ia, or Bunno (lat. 30° 34'— ; long. 70° 50'— 
72° 10'; area, 3,150 sq. m.). — A district on the left bank 
of the Indus, opposite Dera Ismael Khan. The town of Leia 



* The whole district of the Daman is 300 miles long from the 
Salt range in the north, to the confines of Sind on the south, and 
has an average breadth of sixty miles. The heat in summer is 
intense ; and the productions are those of the rest of the plains 
of India. The Daman proper is confined to the tract on the right 
bank of the Indus, but the division includes land on both sides. 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



117 



is built on a branch of the Indus about eleven miles east of 
the river. It is a place of great business, and increasing, 
being the mart for the abundant and rich produce of the 
surrounding fertile country. Cachi is a subdivision of 
Leia, and consists of two parts, the Thur, or desert tract, 
beyond the reach of the Indus, and the low land (called 
Cachi), annually inundated. The former is now arid, and 
thinly peopled ; but the ruins scattered over the country 
prove it to have been once thickly peopled. Nurpur, in 
the Thur, is a manufacturing town, where blankets are 
made. Gold, iron, and coal and salt are found in Cachi. 

Hissar. — A province including three districts, reaching 
from the Sutlej nearly to the Jumna, at Delhi, and 
touching on the north-western boundary the great desert 
and the province of Eajputana. The total area is 
about 8,500 sq. m. 

Buttiana, or Sirsa (lat. 29° 12'— 30° 29' ; long. 73° 51' 
— 75° 22'; area, 3,116 sq. m.). — An irregular district, the 
western part of which, on the skirt of the great sandy 
desert, is nearly waste and uninhabited. In the middle 
and eastern parts the soil, when irrigated, is productive. 
It was formerly less arid, and more cultivable than it is 
now, and much more thickly peopled. The chief town is 
Butnair, formerly flourishing, but now decayed. 

Hurriana, or Hissar (lat. 28° 33'— 29° 49' ; long. 75° 20'— 
76° 22'; area, 3,540 sq. m.). — A district whose soil is formed 
of alluvial matter swept down by the Guggur and other 
sub -Himalaya streams.^ It is very fertile when watered, 
but is dependent on the tanks or reservoirs constructed to 
collect the periodical rains that fail at the close of summer 
and beginning of autumn. As the hot season advances 
these supplies generally fail, and water can only be had 
from wells, which are deep. Thus for great part of the 



* These streams run towards the Indus. They are of consider- 
able magnitude in the rainy season, but at other times are reduced 
to a thread. They are lost in the sandy desert. 



113 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



year the country is arid, and want of water an urgent 
distress. Besides the cultivated part, there are jungles 
and waste, tenanted by wild animals. The population is 
not large. Hissar is the chief town, and a great stud 
depot. It is on a branch of the Delhi Canal, and has 
been prosperous, but is now of little importance. Hansi 
is also on this watercourse. Neither place is of much im- 
portance. Distance of Hansi NW. from Delhi, 89 miles ; 
from Calcutta, 989 miles. Near Hansi is a great salt 
mart, where salt of all kinds is manufactured. 

Eotuh (lat. 28° 38'— 29° 16'; long. 76° 10'— 77° 4'; 
area, 1,823 sq. m.). — A district near Delhi, formerly under 
the Lieutenant-Governor of the North- West Provinces, 
but included in the Punjab government. Its chief town 
is Rotuk, It has a large population, and a good bazaar. 

Lahore. — An important province of about 9,000 square 
miles, extending from the Chenab to the . Cis-Sutlej 
district of Ludiana. It includes three districts, and 
the important city of Lahore, the capital of the Punjab. 

Ferozpur (lat. 30° 10'— 31° 15'; long. 74°— 75° 25'; 
area, 2,692 sq. in.). — This district is in Sirhind (see note, 
p. Ill), and was formerly a place of some importance. 
It is thinly peopled, the greater part being barren, or 
covered with jungle ; but, in former times, it must have 
been more flourishing. The climate is not unfavourable. 
The chief town is Ferozpur, and has been large, as 
it stands in the midst of extensive ruins. There is an 
irregular fort, and the town is defended by a ditch and 
mud wall. The town and fort have been much improved 
lately, but the houses are chiefly of mud, and the streets 
narrow and dirty. Sobraon, a village on the left bank of 
the Sutlej, near which an obstinate battle was fought, in 
1846, between the British army, of 15,000 men, under 
Sir Hugh Gough, afterwards Lord Gough, and a Sikh 
force of 30,000 men, formidably entrenched. The Sikhs 
were defeated with great slaughter. Mudhi, a small 
town, is also remarkable for a victory over the Sikhs in 



NOHTH- WESTERN INDIA. 



119 



the war of 1845. The number of English officers returned 
as killed or wounded exceeded fifty. 

Gujranwala, or Gujtiruwalla (lat. 31° 35' — 32° 30'; 
long. 73° 30'— 74° 30' ; area, 2,657 sq. m.). — A district in 
the doab or interspace between the Ravi and the Chenab 
rivers. It is traversed by another stream. The chief town 
was the birth-place of the ancestors of the celebrated 
Runjeet Sing, whose grandfather was a common soldier. 
There is a fort, the interior of which is highly deco- 
rated. 

Lahore (lat. 30° 40'— 31° 55'; long. 74°— 75°; area, 
3,624 sq. m.). — This district is intersected by the Ravi 
river, the greater part of it lying in the doab between the 
Ravi and the Sutlej, and the rest between the Ravi 
and the Chenab. The former is poorly cultivated and 
thinly inhabited. The chief place is Lahore, the capital 
of the Punjab, and the seat of local government. It 
is a large city, the circuit of the line of fortifications 
exceeding seven miles, and is surrounded by a brick wall, 
formerly twenty-five feet high. The fort or citadel con- 
tains extensive magazines. The interior of the town is 
heavy, the streets being narrow and dirty, and many of 
the houses lofty and gloomy, enclosed within extensive 
dead walls. There are, however, several large and hand- 
some mosques, which for the most part have been dese- 
crated by the Sikhs. Among them, the Padsha mosque 
is the most remarkable. It is massive and lofty, built of 
red sandstone, and ornamented with spacious cupolas. 
The tomb of the Mogul Emperor Jehangir is a very- 
extensive and beautiful structure, also of red sandstone, 
and richly decorated. It is three miles west of the town, 
on the other side of the Ravi. About the same distance 
north-east of the town is the garden of Shah Jehan, a 
superb monument of Eastern magnificence. It is about 
half a mile long, with three successive terraces rising one 
above the other, and contains 450 fountains, which cool 
the air. The water is subsequently collected into marble 
reservoirs. JSTear Lahore is Mian Mir, a large military 



120 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



cantonment. The population of Lahore is about 100,000, 
Distance NW. from Calcutta, 1,156 miles. 

Multan. — This province includes the interspace or doab 
between the Punjnud and Sutlej on the east, and the 
Indus on the west, being terminated northwards by the 
district of Leia on the west, and Gujranwalla on the 
east. The total area is about 20,000 square miles. 

Gogayra, or Montgomery (lat. 30°— 31° 10'; long. 72° 21 
— 74° 40'; area, 5,577 sq. m.). — A level and low district, 
formerly crossed by the main channel of the Sutlej, which 
now runs several miles to the east. The town of Gogayra 
is on the Eavi, which bounds the district to the west. 

Jung (lat. 30° 35'— 36° 52'; long. 71° 50'— 73° 48'; 
area, 5,712 sq. m.). — This district occupies a considerable 
part of the Eechna Doab, between the rivers Chenab and 
Eavi, two of the main feeders of the Indus. It is a 
wild, bare tract of land, with the exception of the strips 
of land along the banks of the rivers. 

Mozuffurgur (lat. 28° 55'— 30° 43'; long. 70° 30'— 
71° 52'; area, 3,022 sq. m.). — A long narrow strip of 
land, or doab, between the Indus on the west and the 
Punjnud and the lower part of the Chenab on the east. 
The chief place is Mozuffurgur. It is on the right 
bank of the Chenab, a little below Multan. 

Multan (lat. 29° 23'— 30° 35'; long. 71° 21'— 73°; area, 
5,882 sq. m.). — A large and important district in the 
doab between the Chenab and the Sutlej, reaching to the 
confluence of the streams. The part subject to the 
inundations of the Chenab produces rich crops. The 
city of Multan is one of the principal places in the 
Punjab. It is built on a high mound of ruins, consisting 
of the remains of older towns, on the same site ; and the 
neighbourhood is covered with fragments of buildings, 
some of them of great extent and beauty. The popula- 
tion is now 80,000. The bazaars are extensive and well 
supplied, and the merchants are rich. Its manufactures 
are silks, cottons, shawls, brocades, tissues, &c. 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



121 



Peshawur. — This province includes three districts, 
occupying the north-western corner of the Punjab, 
watered by the Indus, and crossed by the Cabul branch 
of that river. Cabul is its western frontier, the higher 
part of the Himalaya range its northern, and Cashmere its 
eastern frontier; and it reaches Affghanistan, near the 
commencement of the celebrated Kyber Pass. Its total 
area is nearly 8,000 square miles. 

Hazard, or Huzara (lat. 33° 42—35° 1'; long. 72° 35' 
— 74° 10'; area, 3,000 sq. m.). — This district consists of a 
long narrow strip of land of crescent shape, bounded on 
the east by the Cashmere frontier, and on the west by a 
mountain range separating the Upper Jelum from the 
Indus. The Indus itself forms the south-western boun- 
dary. It is very mountainous in some parts. Huripur, 
or Haripur, is a populous and thriving place, on the river 
Dor, which falls into the Indus about ten miles beyond. 
Its bazaars are very well supplied. 

Kohat (lat. 32° 13'— 33° 50'; long. 70° 23'— 72° 20'; 
area, 2,838 sq. m.). — A district south of Peshawur, on the 
right bank of the Indus, in the hilly tract north of the 
Salt Eange, and including the valley of Kohat. It is popu- 
lous, fertile, and well watered by the River Teo. Its 
beautiful situation, and the luxuriant vegetation of the 
surrounding country, render it a delightful place. The 
town of Kohat is meanly built, but has a good bazaar and 
fine mosque. At Sikh, a few miles east of the town, are 
springs of naphtha and deposits of sulphur. 

Peshawur (lat. 33° 42'— 34° 30'; long. 71° 35'— 72° 42'; 
area, 1,929 sq. m.). — The extreme north-western corner of 
British India, lying between the Indus and the Kyber 
mountains. The climate is very hot in summer, but the 
heat is mitigated by the cool breezes from the mountains. 
The country is naturally fertile, and is well watered. The 
crops are wheat, barley, maize, millet, and esculent vege- 
tables. Some of the best rice in the world is grown in this 
district. It is called Bara rice. Melons of all kinds, cu- 
cumbers, pumpkins, and gourds, are grown in great abun- 



122 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



dance. The town of Peshawur is the capital of the district, 
and is only twelve miles from the opening of the Kyber 
Pass. It is situated in a rich and fertile plain, watered by 
the Cabul river. The houses are built of mud or unburnt 
bricks, and the whole city has a melancholy appearance, 
presenting numerous ruins of great dimensions, the result 
of recent violence. There are many fine mosques, but 
they have been polluted by the Sikhs, and are going to 
ruin. This city was the ancient capital of Eastern Af- 
ghanistan ; it is now one of the largest military stations 
under the government of British India. Attock is a pic- 
turesque and formidable-looking fortress on the left bank 
of the Indus. Kyrabacl is on the opposite or Peshawur 
side. Both towns are small and much decayed. 

Bawul Pilldi. — A province of nearly 17,000 square 
miles, between the Upper Indus and the Chenab, traversed 
by the Jelum, bounded by Cashmere on the north-east, 
and the Peshawur province on the north-west. The 
range of the Salt mountains crosses the territory. 

Gujercd (lat. 32° 10'— 33°; long. 73° 25'— 74° 41'; area, 
1,785 sq. m.). — A district in the upper part of the doab 
between the Jelum and the Chenab, touching the Cash- 
mere territory in its north-eastern borders. It is watered 
by some tributaries of the Chenab. The capital (of the 
same name) is a walled town of considerable size. Near it 
a great battle was fought in 1849, between a force of 
25,000 British, under Lord Grough, and a Sikh army of 
60,000 men. The Sikhs were defeated, and lost fifty-three 
pieces of artillery. 

Jelum (lat. 32°— 33°; long. 71° 20 / — 73° 55* ; area, 
3,910 sq. m.). — A remarkable district, crossed by the moun- 
tain chain called the Salt Bange, stretching from the 
eastern base of the Suliman mountains to the Biver 
Jelum, which gives its name both to the province and 
its capital. The Salt Bange is so called from the number 
and thickness of beds of common salt which it contains 
in many places. The salt mines have been long worked, 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



123 



and in 1832 yielded at the rate of 40,000 tons per annum. 
Salt, alum, antimony, and sulphur are obtained. 

These mountains are not lofty, nowhere exceeding 3,000 
feet. The soil in and near the range is barren, vegetation 
is scanty, and the bold and bare precipices present an ap- 
pearance of great desolation. The town of Jelum is in 
the extreme north-eastern corner of the district, on the 
right bank of the river. It is of considerable extent, and 
upwards of 1,600 feet above the sea. The population 
is chiefly Mahomedan. The climate is unhealthy, owing 
to the inundation which spreads on the eastern bank of 
the river. Jelalpur is a town on the Jelum below the 
chief town, and is built near one of the great passages 
across that stream, on the route from Hindostan to Af- 
ghanistan. Either Jelalpur or Jelum was the scene of 
the great battle between Alexander the Great and Poms. 
Rotas, near Jelum, is a strong fortress, celebrated in 
the early history of the Mahomedans in India as one of 
their main bulwarks between Tartary and Hindostan. 

Bomul Pincli (lat. 33°— 34°; long. 71° 40'— 73° 50'; 
area, 6,216 sq. m.). — A district immediately north of the 
district of Jelum, between the Indus and the Cashmere 
frontier. The chief town is large and populous, with a 
large bazaar. It is surrounded by a wall with bastions, 
and has an old fort. Population about 16,000. Between 
Bawul Pindi and Peshawur is Hoosan Abdul, now a 
paltry place, but celebrated in Hindu mythology. Here 
is preserved the hand of Nanac, the founder of the Sikh 
religion. Among the ruins is the tomb of Husan 
Abdul. 

Shahpur (lat. 31° 40'— 32° 40'; long. 72° 18'— 73° 23' ; 
area, 4,698 sq. m.). — A district in the Jetch Doab, between 
the Jelum and the Chenab. The chief town is Shahpur, 
on the left bank of the. Jelum. 

Trans-Sutlej States. — A province situated between 
the Sutlej and its main feeder, the Beas, extending from 
the confluence of those streams towards the north, 



124 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



and reaching the lower ranges of the Himalaya, where 
several of the feeders of the Beas take their rise. It 
inclndes three districts. Area, 6,245 sqnare miles. 

Hoshiyapur (lat. 31°— 32° 6'; long. 75° 35'— 76° 40'; 
area, 2,086 sq. m.). — A strip of conntry having a low range 
of mountains running along its whole length, from which 
proceed several streams, some running into the Beas and 
some into the Sutlej. The town is small, and bears the 
same name. 

Jalunclur (lat. 30° 37'— 32° 39' ; long. 75° 3'— 76° 8' ; 
area, 1,333 sq. m.). — A fertile tract in the doab bearing the 
same name. It has an agreeable climate. The town also, 
Jalunclur , is ancient, and surrounded by the remains of 
former greatness. It is a military station. 

Kangra (lat. 31° 55'— 32° 23'; long. 76° 12'— 76° 43' ; 
area 2,826 sq. m.). — A hilly district, favourable for the 
cultivation of tea, lying among the mountains in the 
lower ranges to the south of the great Himalaya chain. 
It possesses a hill-fort of considerable interest and great 
strength (Kot Kangra), constructed on the top of an 
eminence about 150 feet above a small stream near the 
Beas river. The eminence is about three miles in circuit, 
bounded almost all round by inaccessible precipices, and 
strengthened by masonry and ramparts. The fort was 
defended for four years against the Goorkas, but was 
finally taken by Eunjeet Sing. Its position is exceed- 
ingly strong. 



8. Native States oe North-Western India. 

The number of the native states still remaining in North- 
Western India, all more or less under British influence, 
but ruled by native rajas, is exceedingly large. A few 
are extensive and important, some, as Eajputana, being 
extensive countries comprising groups of states; but 
many are very small indeed. The following list contains 
the names of all the states : — 



NOKTH-WESTEKN INDIA. 



125 



Bahadurgur (area, 48 sq. m. ; pop. 14,400).— A small 
state adjacent to the British district of Delhi. It has a 
considerable walled town of the same name. 

Bawalpur (lat. 27° 41' — 30° 25'; long. 69° 30' — 
73° 58' ; area, 25,200 sq. m. ; pop., probably 925,000). — A 
feudatory state nnder British management. It consists of 
a narrow tract 310 miles long, on the left bank of the 
Sutlej and Indus, reaching eastwards to the great desert 
of Bajputana. It is a remarkably level country, having 
no eminences beyond sand-hills fifty or sixty feet high. 
The only cultivable part extends along the river line for a 
distance of about ten miles from the course of the stream. 
Beyond this all is loose sand. The cultivated part yields 
luxuriant crops of wheat, rice, tobacco, and indigo, and 
groves of trees. It is inhabited by a mixture of Hindus, 
Beluchees, and AfFgans. The higher classes speak Per- 
sian, the lower a dialect of Hindi. It is governed by 
a ruler styled the Khan. The chief town is Bawalpur, 
a mean collection of houses of unburnt brick, surrounded 
by a ruinous wall of mud. It is on the Sutlej, about mid- 
way between the two extremities of the country. It is a 
place of some trade, and has silk manufactures ; popula- 
tion, 20,000. Ootch, near the confluence of the Jelum, is 
a large town in the midst of a fertile country. Kyrjpur 
is a town on the left bank of the Gara, with a tolerable 
bazaar and some trade, in a part of the sandy waste con- 
stantly and rapidly encroached on by blown sand. It 
is the only place between the banks of the Indus and the 
desert. At Dirawul is a strong fortress, difficult of access. 

Bullubgur (area, 190 sq. m. ; pop., 57,000).— A small 
district adjoining the British district of Delhi. 

Cashmere, or Kashmir. (Banir Sing's dominions.) 
(Lat. 32°17 / -36°; long. 73° 20'— 79° 40'; area, 60,000 
sq. m. ; pop., about 3,000,000.) — A name now given by the 
English to an extensive tract of country, reaching from the 



126 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Punjab on the south and west, to Tibet on the north 
and east, its extreme length being 350 miles, and its 
breadth 270. It includes the valley of Cashmere, or Cash- 
mere proper, and several provinces of smaller importance, 
almost entirely mountainous. In the southern portion, 
the mountain sides are clothed with forests of cedar and 
pine; but further northwards, towards Tibet, there are 
large tracts destitute even of a trace of vegetation. The 
scenery of the mountains is in the highest degree pictu- 
resque. " The grandeur and splendour of Cashmerian 
scenery results from the sublimity of the huge enclosing 
mountains, the beauty of the various gorges, the numerous 
lakes and fine streams, rendered often more striking 
by cataracts, the luxuriance and variety of the forest 
trees, and the rich and varied vegetation of the lower 
ground." 

The valley of Cashmere is an expansion of part of the 
valley of the Jelum, here called the Behut. It is an oval 
plain, 4,500 square miles in area, surrounded on all sides 
by lofty mountains, whose passes on the north side are not 
less than 10,000 feet above the sea. The actual plain, or 
bottom of the valley, is about fifty miles long and ten to 
twelve miles wide, and is 5,300 feet above the sea. The 
river flows through it in a tranquil navigable stream, wind- 
ing about, at one time washing the base of the hills on one 
side, and then crossing to the other. On the rising of the 
river in summer, when the snow melts on the mountains, 
the whole plain would be inundated but for a system, of 
dykes called hands, placed along the course of the stream. 
The river expands into lakes, one of which is twenty miles 
long by nine broad, and another as long, but only half the 
breadth. There are also swamps. The soil is very fertile, 
and produces all sorts of corn and fruit, and flowers, 
especially roses, which are cultivated for distillation. 
Among the natural productions is a nut, the seed of a 
water-plant growing in the larger lake. Many thousand 
tons of it are annually collected and used as food. 

The inhabitants of Cashmere exhibit a mixture of the 



tfORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



127 



Hindu and the Tartar, the Tartar characteristics beinsr 
more marked as we approach the mountains ; the dress, 
customs, and even the religion, changing gradually with 
the changes of the physical features of the country. The 
inhabitants of the valley are chiefly Mahomedans of the 
orthodox or Sunni class. The people are tall, well formed, 
and intelligent ; their language, called Gashmiri, is derived 
from Sanscrit and Persian ; their dress is chiefly woollen. 
Their houses are built of wood and brick, or stone. 

The climate of the country is divided into the four 
seasons, as in Europe, as the periodical rains of India do 
not reach so far into the mountains. Spring and summer 
are unhealthy, March and April are rainy, May and June 
dry and fine, July and August are marked by thunder- 
storms. Winter lasts four months, and the ground is then 
covered with snow. 

The most celebrated manufacture of Cashmere is that 
of shawls, which are made of two kinds of wool ; one from 
the tame goat, the other from the fleece, not only of the 
wild goat, but of the yak, wild sheep, and other animals, 
even including the dog. The wool used is a fine down, 
growing close to the skin under the common coat. Atta 
of roses is made in large quantity and of the finest 
quality in Cashmere, the roses being especially cultivated 
for that purpose. Fire-arms, saddlery, leather, lacquered 
ware, and even paper, are largely manufactured. 

Cashmere, or Sri-Jsfuggur, is the capital. It is a large 
town on the banks of the Jelum. The streets are 
narrow, and the houses built with a wooden framework 
as foundation, a stone story above, and a brick upper 
story. The river is crossed by wooden bridges. Iskardo, 
on the Upper Indus, has a very strong fort. Islamabad 
is a town of some importance, and is distant from the 
capital thirty-five miles. There are several smaller towns, 
of which Kishtaivar, on the Chenab, and Leh y on the 
Indus, are the principal. 

The whole territory is under tl^e government of a native 
Raja, placed in possession in 1846 by the British, to 



128 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



whom the country had been ceded in 1845 by the Sikhs. 
It had been in their possession since 1819, when they 
took it from the Affgans, who had conquered it in 1752. 
The ruler of Cashmere is bound to furnish troops when 
required. 

Deojana (area, 71 sq. m. ; pop., 6,390.) — A small 
state or jaghire in the neighbourhood of Delhi. 

Furrucknuggur (area, 22 sq. m. ; pop., 4,400). — A small 
chieftainship of a few villages near Delhi. 

Gurwal (lat. 30° 2'— 31° 20'; long. 77° 55'— 79° 20'; 
area, 4,500 sq. m.; pop., 200,000). — This state is within 
the territory governed by the Lieutenant-Governor of the 
North- Western Provinces. It consists of a group of 
mountain peaks of great elevation, intersected by 
numerous valleys draining into the Ganges, Several of 
the peaks are more than 20,000 feet above the sea. There 
are no less than twelve streams proceeding from the high 
ground in this little state. The climate is hot in the low 
tracts on the banks of the rivers, while the upper districts 
rise above the limit of perpetual congelation. The 
natural productions vary exceedingly, according to the 
temperature ; for, while sugar-cane and cotton, rice, ginger, 
turmeric, yams, and hemp are grown in the low grounds, 
wheat, barley, buckwheat, and pulse are cultivated in 
terraces on the mountain slopes, and walnut and other 
trees grow in the forests at a higher elevation. The 
natives are of short stature, mild and peaceable, and are 
of mixed Mongol and Hindu origin. A portion of the 
country was separated from the rest in 1815, and now 
forms what is called British Gurwal, in the province of 
Kumaon (see p. 102). The remainder is governed by a 
native Haja. Gurwal contains some of the sources 
both of the Ganges and the Jumna. Tiri, the chief 
town, is little more than a village. It is the residence of 
the Eaja. 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



129 



Hill States. — Under this name are included a number 
of small independent states occupying a position between 
the upper Ganges and the Sutlej river. They lie to the 
north and east of the district of Umballa, in the Punjab, 
and all, with the exception of three, are on the eastern 
side of the Sutlej (Gis- Sutlej). They are highly pictu- 
resque and rugged. There are hardly any other roads 
through them than sheep and goat paths ; their trade is 
very small, and their manufactures confined to coarse 
woollen cloths and iron. The people are small in stature, 
hardy, superstitious, and ignorant. They live in houses 
three stories high, having a wooden foundation and stone 
superstructure. They are governed by chiefs, who are 
tributary to the British authorities. The total area of 
the group, twenty- eight in number, is nearly 10,000 square 
miles, the population being 733,500. Those on the west- 
ern side of the Sutlej are much the largest. The follow- 
ing are the states : — 

Cis- Sutlej Group. 

Bagul (area, 100 sq. m. ; pop. 22,305). — A mountainous 
district, from which rise several lofty peaks. 
Beeja (pop. 981). 

Belaspur (Kulore) (area, 150 sq. m. ; pop. 64,848). — 
A small state at a high elevation, having three towns and 
ninety villages. The town of Belaspur, the principal 
place, is flourishing and well built. It adjoins Simla. 

JBussaUr (lat. 30° 56'— 32° 8'; long. 77° 34'— 78° 52'; 
area, 3,000 sq. m.). — This state is intersected by the 
Sutlej, which divides it into two parts, the northern 
called Kunawur, and the southern BussaMr. In Kuna- 
wur are extensive and rich deposits of copper ore; and 
iron ores are very abundant, and much worked. They 
are] of the kind called " specular iron." The whole 
country is mountainous, most parts being from 7,000 
to 12,000 feet above the sea. In Kunawur very fine 
grapes are produced in great abundance. Of the human 
population, the upper classes are Eajputs, the other 

9 



130 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



classes Bramins, Cumioits, and Coolies ; but, although 
of Hindu origin, the observances of Braminisni are 
very imperfect, except that beef is never eaten. There 
are several poor towns. 

Buji, or Biji (area, 70 sq. m.; pop. 9,000). — A narrow 
strip of land on the left bank of the Sutlej, adjoining the 
Punjab. 

Bulsun (area, 64 sq. m.; pop. 4,892). — A small state 
between the Sutlej and the Tons. 

JDami (area, 25 sq.m. ; pop. 2,853). — A little state 4,000 
feet above the sea, crossed by a tributary of the Sutlej. 

BurTcothi (area, 5 sq. m. ; pop. 612). — The smallest 
of the states. It contains the peak of Tungru, 10,000 
feet above the sea. 

Gond (pop. 963). — A small state north of Bulsun. 

Hindur, or Nalagur (area, 233 sq. m. ; pop. 49,678). — 
A state of some importance, traversed by a steep range 
of hills, but having a populous and well cultivated valley. 
The country is picturesque and fertile. 

Jubul (area, 330 sq. m. ; pop. 17,262). — It is of high 
elevation, and part of it lies in the beautiful and exten- 
sive valley of the Pabur. 

Kothar (pop. 3,990). 

Kofi (pop. 3,981). — A few ridges and intervening 
valleys. 

Kumliassin (pop. 7,829). 

Kunea (area, 12 sq. m. ; pop. 1,906). 

Kunthal (pop. 18,083). 

Mongol (pop. 917). 

Milog (pop. 7,358). 

Mudan (pop. 2,431). 

Puttiala* (pop. 48,836). 

Saugri (pop. 1,994). 

Simla* (pop. 31,858). 



* The two Hill states of Puttiala and Simla are portions of 
other districts so named. The rest of Puttiala is a Sikh state 
(sec p. 13S). Simla is in the Cis-Sutlej states province (p. 112). 



NOKTH-WESTEKN INDIA. 



131 



Sirmor (area, 1,075 sq. m. ; pop. 75,595). — A hilly- 
state, almost the whole of it within the drainage of the 
Jumna. The chief elevations are on the northern frontier, 
and are about 12,000 feet above the sea. From these the 
country falls generally (though broken by hills) towards 
the south and south-east. The northern extremity has 
very little rain; but very large and excellent crops are 
everywhere to be obtained by irrigation. The state is 
governed by a Raja, who resides at Nalmn, the only 
town of importance, and described as being cleaner and 
handsomer than the generality of native Indian cities. 

TJieog (pop. 4,423). — A small territory with a fort, 
between Simla and Kotgur, 8,000 feet above the sea. 

Turre (pop. 3,082). 

TrariS'8-utlej Group. 

Ohamha (area, 3,210 sq. m. ; pop. 120,000). — A feuda- 
tory state under British management, situated and crossed 
by the Ravi and Chenab. It touches the frontier of 
Cashmere. The chief town is picturesquely situated at 
the foot of one of the lofty snow-covered peaks of the 
Himalaya. It was formerly a place of some trade, and 
has very greatly improved since the Raja was assisted 
by a British officer, deputed for that purpose, since 1863. 

Mandi (area, 1,080 sq. m. ; pop. 139,259). — A small 
territory on the northern slope of the Himalaya, com- 
prising a number of ridges with the valleys between them. 
The town of Mandi is at the confluence of the Sukyt 
river with the Beas, which quite intersects the territory. 
The rivers coming down from the snowy mountains are 
subject, during summer, to a diurnal rise and fall. Iron 
and salt are obtained from the mountains. 

Sukyt (area, 420 sq. m. ; pop. 44,552). — A state on 
the north side of the Sutlej, with a population of about 
45,000. There is a small town of the same name. The 
state is governed by a Raja. 

Jujur (lat. 27° 55'— 28° 35'; long. 75° 55—76° 58'; 
area, 1,230 sq.m. ; pop. 110,700). — An important and well 

9 * 



132 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



managed state, crossed in two directions by nigh roads, 
with its chief town only thirty-five miles from Delhi. It 
has several streams, which discharge into the Jnmna close 
to Delhi. There are three towns besides the capital. 

Kuppurchulla (area, 598 sq. m.; pop. 212,721). 

Loharu (area, 200 sq. m. ; pop. 18,000). 

Patcwdi (area, 74 sq. m. ; pop. 6,660). — This and the 
two last-named states are near Delhi. There are towns 
in each. 

Rajputana (lat. 23° 35'— 29° 57'; long. 70° 5'— 77° 40'; 
area, 120,263 sq. m.; pop. 9,375,000). — An immense tract 
of country, extending from Sind on the west to the pro- 
vince of Agra on the east, skirting the Bombay Presi- 
dency on the south, and stretching to the Punjab on the 
north. It includes the region of the Thur, or Great 
Desert, and the Aravalli mountains. It comprises 
eighteen independent states, besides the small British 
province of Ajmir, almost in the centre of the district 
(see p. 100). The following are the native states : — 



Area in 
square miles. 




Burtpur . 
Dolepur . 
Dungurpur 
Jallawar . 
Jessulmir 
Jeypur . 



Banswarra 
Bikanir . 
Bundi 



Kerowli . 
Kishengur 



Jodpur, or Marwa 



1,500 
17,676 
2,291 
1,974 
1,626 
1,000 
2,500 
12,252 
15,000 
35,672 
1,878 



720 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



Area in 
square miles. 



Population. 



Kota 

Oudeypur, or Meywa 
Pertabgur 



5,000 
11,614 
1,460 
3,000 
1,800 
3,300 



433,000 
1,161,400 

150,000 
55,000 

182,000 
1,000,000 



Serohi 

Tonk 

Ulwur 



Each of these states is governed by a Eaja, except 
Tonk, which is under a Mussulman Nawab, and Burtpur 
and Ulwur, which are Bat principalities. The whole 
group is under the political superintendence of an agent, 
appointed by the Viceroy, to whom each state sends a 
Vakil. 

Though so large a country, Kajputana is one of the 
least interesting in India, much of it being a desert of 
moving sand, destitute of vegetation and water, and 
therefore of inhabitants. The western states, Bikanir, 
Jessulmir, and Marwa are almost desert; but rocky 
hills appear above the sand in Marwa ; and there are said 
to be valuable marbles and building stones in that state. 
There is also a fair population pursuing some industries, 
especially in the districts watered by the Aravalli, one 
of the few rivers crossing the territory. The tracts on 
the eastern side, towards the North- Western Provinces, 
are fertile and highly cultivated. This is the case espe- 
cially in Burtpur and other states through which rivers 
pass. The Aravalli range crosses the south-eastern states. 
The chief streams that water Eajputana are the Chum- 
bul, the Luni, and the Bunass ; but for the most part 
water is only obtained from wells. These are shallow in 
the eastern states ; but in the west, two or three hundred 
feet deep. There are salt lakes and brine springs in 
the desert, from which much salt is made. The crops 
in the east and on the river banks are corn, cotton, 
sugar, tobacco, and opium. Where there is pastur- 
age, there are large herds of camels, horses, and sheep. 
In the desert, and in the southern part, are wild asses, 



GEOGRAPHY OF IXDIA. 



nilgaus, and antelopes, besides lions and leopards, tigers, 
wolves, hyaenas, jackals, and foxes. The wild ass is a 
very fine animal, and is even nsed for food. He is never 
seen in bad condition. 

The people of this extensive country include several 
races. The greater number, and the highest class, are 
Rajputs, a tall, vigorous race, athletic, and of very war- 
like habits. They claim to be descended from a warrior 
caste, whose ultimate parents are the sun and moon. 
The feudal system prevails among them, and the chiefs 
have great influence. There are several classes recognized 
among them; one of these consists of a tribe called 
Batties, who inhabit the western states. They are much 
addicted to the use of opium, and, when not under its 
influence, are said to be little better than idiots. They 
are a dissipated race. Another class is called Bats, who 
are bards, and sing the praises of their own tribe, and 
satirical songs concerning their rivals. The Charuns are 
the priests and historians, and possess great influence, 
owing to a superstitious notion among the rest of the 
people that ruin will attach to any one who sheds their 
blood. They accompany travellers, to protect them from 
robbers. The Jats are also numerous. The rest of the 
people are Bramins and Jains. 

The chief manufactures of the people who inhabit 
Eajputana are cotton and woollen goods, carvings in 
ivory, and working in metals : all these handicrafts are 
chiefly carried on in the eastern states. 

There are few good roads in Eajputana, and neither 
canals nor railroads. One good road crosses the country 
westwards from Agra, as far as Ajmir, and then turns 
southwards into Central India. The telegraph is also 
carried to Ajmir, and not beyond. The climate and 
absence of cultivable soil have much to do with this ; but 
the divided interests of the Bajas of the separate states 
much more : and it must be long before the country is 
sufficiently advanced to take rank among the important 
districts of India, 



NORTH- WESTERN INDIA. 



185 



The following notices of the towns of Bajputana 
include all that possess any interest : — 

Abu, in Serohi, is the residence of the Government 
Agent. It is a sanatorium in the Aravalli range, and is 
situated near the highest summit of that range, which is 
about 5,000 feet above the sea. It is a celebrated place 
of pilgrimage, and possesses one of the most superb of all 
the places of worship in India, said to have cost eighteen 
millions sterling in building, besides half a million in 
levelling the ground for a site. There is a group of four 
marble temples at Dilwara, about midway up the moun- 
tain, and five miles from the highest summit, called 
Mount Abu. They are about four centuries old, and are 
dedicated to the Jain worship, intermediate between that 
of Brahma and Buddha. 

Banswarra is a large enclosed space, much of it 
occupied by gardens, and with a handsome palace, some 
good Hindu temples, and an extensive bazaar. 

Bihanir has the appearance of a great and magnifi- 
cent city, and has some fine houses and temples ; but most 
of the houses are mud hovels painted red, and it stands 
in the midst of a desolate plain. 

Bundi. — A walled town without much trade, with two 
good bazaars, and a very fine palace adjacent. The town 
is well built, and is in the midst of a beautiful country. 

Burtpur. — A large modern town, with narrow, dirty, 
crowded streets, and houses built of stone. It was once 
strongly fortified, and has been twice besieged. Its forti- 
fications are now destroyed. 

Dol&pur (near the Chumbul). — An ancient place, with 
some fine antique mosques and mausoleums of the fine 
freestone of the country, worked into beautiful trellis- 
work, which is perfectly preserved, though about two 
centuries old. 

Dungurpur. — A fortified town of considerable size. 

Jessuhnir. — A singular and interesting town, of 20,000 
inhabitants, in a rocky tract of yellow limestone. It is 
fortified by ramparts and bastions of uncemented stone. 



136 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



Within the ramparts is a citadel on an eminence, three- 
quarters of a mile in circumference, with steep sides 
scarped all round. The palace within the citadel is sur- 
mounted with a huge umbrella of metal, supported on a 
stone shaft. There are also six temples in the citadel. 
The houses in the town are well built. The town is said 
to have been founded in the twelfth century. 

Jeypur. — A large, walled, modern city, situated in 
a natural basin, the ancient bed of a lake, and surrounded 
by barren stony hills. On a hill behind the town is the 
citadel. The town is two miles long and a mile wide, and 
is one of the best built cities in India ; the houses are 
finely constructed of stone, and the streets are at right 
angles to one another. The palace occupies the centre,, 
and is half a mile long. The garden is very beautiful ; 
and there is an observatory. This is the residence of a 
Political Agent of the British Government. 

Jodpur, or Marwa. — The capital of the most exten- 
sive of the Eajput states, governed by a Maharaja. A 
Political Agent of the British Government resides there. 
It is situated in a cultivated but woody plain at the 
southern extremity of a ridge of rock twenty-five miles 
in length, two or three miles broad, and between 300 and 
400 feet above the surrounding plain. It is enclosed by 
a rampart five miles in circuit, and the general effect 
from a distance is superb. The streets, however, are 
irregular and badly laid out, though there are many very 
handsome edifices of stone. There are several reservoirs 
(tanks) within the walls. Near the town are fine gardens, 
and a beautiful building called the Pearl Palace. 

Kerowlee. — A large walled town in a cultivated district, 
difficult of access. The houses are well built, but the 
streets narrow and filthy. 

Kishengur. — A town once considerable but now 
minous, built among hills of granite, and surrounded by a 
thick wall of masonry. 

Kota. — A large and well-built town on the Chumbnl, 
enclosed by a strong rampart, and enclosing a very 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



137 



beautiful palace. It is a thriving and wealthy place, and 
has a resident Political Agent of the British Govern- 
ment. 

Machery. — A small town, formerly the capital of the 
state of Ulwur. 

Oudeypur, or Meywa. — The capital of one of the 
largest states bearing the same name. It is pleasing in 
appearance, but ill built and unhealthy. The palace is a> 
noble pile of granite, a hundred feet high, with a beau- 
tiful artificial lake formed by an embankment thirty- seven 
feet high, faced with marble. 

Pertabgur is a large town, but contains nothing re- 
markable. 

Serohi. — A town built in the fifteenth century upon 
the ruins of a much more ancient city, still observable. 
It is a large town, and has much trade. It is celebrated 
for the excellence of the sword-blades made there. 

Tonic. — A large walled town with a mud fort, embel- 
lished with several public buildings. 

Ulwur, capital of the state of that name, is an ill-built 
town, surrounded by a wretched mud wall. It contains 
the palace of the Eaja, and an elegant pavilion of white 
marble. 

Rampur (lat. 28° 30'— 29° 11'; long. 78° 55'— 79° 30'; 
area, 1,140 sq. m. ; pop. 390,232). — A state within the 
British province of Bohilcund. It is a level, fertile 
country, abundantly supplied with water in the northern 
part by two streams, and crossed in the southern part by 
the Eamgunga. The northern part adjoins the " Terai," 
and is terribly unhealthy. The town of Rampur, on the 
Kosilla, a tributary of the Eamgunga, is large and irre- 
gularly built, but is beautifully situated in a cultivated 
district. It has a, lofty mosque in the market-place. 
Distance NW. from Calcutta, 789 mites, 

Shapura (area about 1,500 sq. miles). 



138 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Sikh States. — A group of small native states under 
British protection, between the Simla district and Hissar 
province of the Punjab. Their inhabitants were formerly 
called Malwa Sikhs. Area, 7,070 sq. m. 

Fu r id Kote (lat. 30° 40'— 30° 56'; long. 74° 22 / — 75° 9'; 
area, 604 sq. m. ; population about 75,500). — A small 
state, almost surrounded by the British district of Feroz- 
pur. The town bears the same name. 

J iiid. — A territory comprising a number of detached 
joortions, having a total area of 683 square miles, and a 
population of about 162,920. It is chiefly within or on 
the northern border of the state of Puttiala. Jind is 
a considerable town, with a good bazaar and palace, but 
the country around is much overrun with jungle. 

Kulsea (area, 155 sq. m. ; pop. 62,000). 

Molair Kotli (area, 165 sq. m. ; pop. 46,200). 

Mumdote (area, 370 sq. m. ; pop. 37,100). 

Narba, or Nciblia (area, 658 sq. m. ; pop. 184,240). — 
A territory consisting of detached portions. The greater 
part is a long very narrow strip, north of Puttiala. 

Futtiala (lat. 29° 20—30° 50'; long. 74° 43—76° 52'; 
area, 4,731 sq. m. ; j3op. 1,326,840). — This is far the most 
important of the group, the territory being among the 
most fertile in Sirhind, producing large quantities of 
grain, mostly exported to Lahore and Amritsir. The 
chief town is on the river Kosilla, which runs past the 
town in a very deep channel, but which is so swollen in 
times of inundation, that a great embankment has been 
found necessary to prevent the walls from being destroyed. 
It is a compact, well built town, cleaner than most of the 
Sikh cities. The condition of the state has been greatly 
improved under the present Kaja. Within Puttiala are 
fragments of other much smaller states, of which Narba 
is one, and Kuslia another. 

9. Independent Native Countries adjoining 
North- Western India. 

Beyond India, to the west, is a large and important tract 



NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 



139 



of country, inhabited by races with whom it is absolutely 
necessary that the authorities of British India should 
occasionally come in contact. This country includes 
the two states of Afganistan and Beluchistan. Some 
notice of their physical features and population seems 
desirable in a work devoted to the geography of India. 

Afganistan, or the land of the Afgans, is the northern 
part of the wide tract extending from India to Persia. It 
lies between lat. 28° 50'— 36° 30' I, and long. 62°— 
72° 30' E. Its area about 225,000 square miles. From 
north to south it stretches down from the crest of the 
Hindu Cush, includes the whole drainage of the Oabul 
river and the table-land to the south, and is there termi- 
nated by the frontier of Beluchistan. It is bounded 
by the Suliman mountains on the east, and by Persia on 
the west. Much of it is mountainous and inaccessible, 
but it includes a succession of ridges and. valleys, the 
valleys being irregular, and the ridges occasionally rising 
into lofty mountains, or expanding into plateaux. The 
highest summits are in the north, and exceed 20,000 feet, 
many of the passes across them exceeding 10,000 feet. 
The country is drained eastward to the Indus by the 
Cabul river, and westward into swamps and lakes. The 
former is the principal stream in the country, and falls 
into the Indus, near Attock, after a course of about 250 
miles. Of the other streams, running southward, some 
are lost in swamps; some disappear altogether, being 
absorbed into the soil and never reaching the sea, except 
during the rainy season. 

Four-fifths of Afganistan is a region of rocks and 
mountains, interspersed occasionally with well watered, 
fertile valleys, and in many places containing elevated 
table-land, yielding a scanty pasture. With a surface as 
rugged as Switzerland, it exceeds Spain in extent, and 
its climate brings to perfection many tropical productions 
in the lower parts ; while the vegetation of the colder 
parts of the temperate zone prevails on the plateaux. 



140 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



The valley of the Cabul is the most important part of 
the country. To the south is the fertile district of 
Logur, and to the north the Koh-i-Daman, also fertile 
and highly cultivated. To the east is the rich and 
beautiful vale of Jelalabad. 

The mineral wealth of the country is considerable. It 
yields gold in many places. Silver, mercury, copper, 
antimony, and zinc are all present, some in abundance. 
The indications of copper are particularly dwelt upon. 
Iron is so abundant that it is unnecessary to indicate the 
localities. Coal has also been found. 

The climate of Afganistan, though varying greatly in 
different parts, is on the whole characterized by dryness 
and great extremes of temperature. In Cabul the cold 
is intense, and snow lies on the ground for three months 
in winter. Even in a latitude lower than that of Spain 
or Italy, the severity of a Russian winter is endured. In 
Jelalabad, however, where the elevation is 2,000 feet above 
the sea, the winter is as mild as in Hindustan. The heat 
of summer is everywhere very great, and in some places 
higher than in Bengal. Even at Cabul, 6,000 feet above 
the sea, the thermometer ranges from 90° to 100°. 

Much of this large country is irreclaimable desert, most 
of it is unenclosed, and nearly everywhere there are 
extensive wild tracts ; but the number of wild animals is 
comparatively small, nor are the feline tribes ferocious. 
The goats and sheep are among the most valuable of the 
quadrupeds. There is a great variety of birds, and very 
few poisonous reptiles. Of forest trees, there are many of 
those common in Europe, and some others peculiar. The 
deodar (Pinus deodarus) flourishes on the mountain sides 
to a height of 10,000 feet. Species of oak, walnut, birch,, 
and other trees grow at lower altitudes. The valleys 
yield all the ordinary Indian crops. 

The Afgans are chiefly a pastoral race. In religion, 
they are Mahomedans, of the Sunni persuasion. They are 
tolerant to Christians, but quarrel with the Mahomedans 
of the Shia sect. The Beluchi language resembles the 



NOETH-WESTEKN INDIA. 



141 



Pushtu, which is of the same family as Sanskrit, though 
essentially distinct. In appearance the Afgans resemble 
the Jews, but their dress and manners are Persian. 

The government in Afganistan is very peculiar and 
patriarchal ; the people are bold and independent, and 
little inclined to submit to any control. They have no 
regular tribunals, and each tribe is practically free under 
its own Khan. 

The chief towns of Afganistan are Cabul, Guzni, and 
•Candahar. Cabul is situated on the river of that name, 
in a picturesque, well watered, and fertile district, pro- 
ducing the finest fruits. It is a fine and interesting city, 
the principal bazaar exhibiting much architectural inge- 
nuity and great beauty. Much of the town was destroyed 
by the British on its capture in 1842. The houses are 
built of sun-dried bricks, with much wood, and the place 
is very subject to earthquakes. It is divided into districts, 
each of which is fortified. The site of the town is 6,396 
feet above the sea, and it is subject to extreme cold in 
winter. Cabul is about 160 miles west of Peshawur 
and the English frontier. Guzni is an ancient and 
celebrated town and fortress, built on the western ex- 
tremity of a range of hills rising from a plain. It is 
7,726 feet above the sea. The fort is commanded by 
neighbouring hills. In consequence of its position, the 
cold is intense in winter. The population is small, but 
the bazaars large, and the town does a considerable 
amount of traffic. Candahar is the principal city of 
Western Afganistan. It is situated in a fertile and 
cultivated plain, well watered by canals from rivers that 
flow near it to the east and west. But at no great 
distance precipitous and rocky hills rise around it. It is 
enclosed by a mud wall. There are two principal streets, 
crossing at right angles in the middle. The buildings are 
poor, but the town is well supplied, though unhealthy. 
The population is very variously stated, but is believed to 
be 50,000. It is much mixed. 

Afganistan communicates with Hindustan by the 



142 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



celebrated Kyber Pass. It is very difficult, though only j 
3,373 feet above the sea, and has been obstinately con- 
tested. It commences near Peshawur, and extends about ] 
thirty miles to the plains of Jelalabad. 

Beluchistan. — This country lies south of Afganistan, I 
extending to the Indian Ocean, and bounded on the east j 
by Sind, and on the west by Persia. It lies between 
24° 50' and 30° 20' north latitude, and 57° 40—69° 18 r 
east longitude. Its area is 160,000 square miles. Its 
coast line is regular and craggy, but not elevated. To- 
wards the interior, however, there is rapid elevation. On 
the coast there are several roadsteads, but no good 
harbours. The interior is rugged, barren, and deficient of 
water. Its eastern side is crossed from north to south 
by the Hala mountain range, which approaches the 
Suliman range, but there are no lofty eminences. The 
whole country is described as a maze of mountains, 
except on the north-west, where it becomes part of the 
desert. 

The rivers of Beluchistan are the JBolcm and the 
Mula in the north, the Hub and Purali in the south, 
and the Dusti in the west; but they all dry up or are » 
lost in the earth in dry weather, and in the wet season 
are destructive mountain torrents. None of them flow 
through regular and well defined channels. Along the 
whole 600 miles of coast which Beluchistan possesses, 
there is no stream which might not in dry weather be 
forded by a child. 

The climate is extreme. The cold during winter is 
exceedingly intense, snow lying on the ground for two 
months in winter even in the fertile valleys, while in 
summer the heat is overpowering on the lower grounds. 
The country is said to be rich in mineral productions, 
copper especially being met with in large quantity. Lead 
and antimony have both been recorded. Sulphur has 
been extensively worked. There are mud volcanoes at 
Lus, near a place where iron ore is worked. 



NORTH- WESTEKN" INDIA. 



143 



Part of Beluchistan, to tlie west, consists of a sandy 
desert, quite impassable in summer owing to the sand- 
storms, when the wind is so scorching as utterly to destroy 
animal life. 

The inhabitants are chiefly Mahomedans of the Sunni 
persuasion, and are said to be very bigoted. The 
Beluchis appear to consist of a great admixture of races, 
of whom some prevail in one part and some in another. 
Some of them are active, hardy, and predatory, others 
devoted to agricultural pursuits. They are hospitable 
but indolent, and more fond of gambling and amusements 
than of any industrial pursuits. 

The chief town of Beluchistan is Kelat, the capital, 
built on an eminence, and surrounded by a mud wall. 
It has some little trade, and is the seat of government. 
It is 6,000 feet above the sea, and its population is about 
12,000. Beta is near the coast, about 100 miles north- 
west of Kurrachi. It contains 5,000 inhabitants, living* 
in mud houses, and surrounded by a mud wall. Its 
streets are said to be neat and clean. Kedge is in the 
extreme west of the country, not far from the coast, on 
the Dusti. It has a fort, built on a high precipice, con- 
sidered impregnable. The town was once large, but is 
now decayed. 

Beluchistan is reached from Sind by the Bolan Pass, 
which is a succession of ravines and gorges, across the 
Hala chain. The crest of the pass is 5,793 feet above 
the sea; and there is little descent on the western side, 
as it merely reaches the top of the plateau. The ascent 
is difficult, the country very barren, and part of the road 
cut through high perpendicular hills. The total length 
is fifty-four miles, and the average ascent ninety feet in 
a mile. The lower part is very unhealthy in summer ; 
and the pass is infested by robber tribes. It can be 
traversed by artillery. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CENTRAL INDIA. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions: — 1. The Central Provinces. 
General Account — Nagpur and Chuttees Gur Provinces — 
Nerbudda and Jubbulpur Provinces — Chota Nagpur Province. 
2. Hyderabad. General Account — Assigned Districts of 
Hyderabad — The Nizam's Dominions. 3. Malwa^ or Central 
India. Ali Mohun — Amjerra — Bopal — Bundelcund — Bur- 
wani— Dewas — Dar — Gwalior Territories — Indore Territories 
— Jabua — Jowra — Kurwai — Kothi — Myhir — Ocheyra — 
Omutwarra — Rewa — Rutlam — Shagur — Sohawal — Sitamow. 
4. Orissa States. Jeypur and Hill Zemindars — South-west 
Frontier of Bengal States — Cuttack Mehals. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions.— In the interior of the 
Peninsula, between the Lower Provinces of Bengal, the 
North- West Provinces, and Rajputana, on the north, and 
the Madras Presidency on the south, there is an extensive 
tract, nearly half of which is English, and the rest still 
governed by native princes, more or less subject to British 
superintendence. This country, a part of what is called 
"the Deccan" (see p. 157), lies between the Jumna and 
the Kistna rivers. It does not reach the sea, being sepa- 
rated from it by the Madras collectorates on the east, and 
those of Bombay on the west. Much of the territory is 
high table-land, breaking here and there into mountains ; 
and, compared with other parts of the country, it is little 
cultivated. The total area is about 366,350 square miles, 
and the population is estimated at twenty-five millions. 
The name of Central India is fitly applied to this district, 
although, in the division into Presidencies, the British 



CENTKAL INDIA. 



145 



portion is included in that of Bengal. The following is 
the most convenient subdivision : — 

Area in 
square miles. 

1. The Central Provinces (British) . . 140,000 

_ ( Berar, or Assigned districts 17,334 

2. Hyderabad ( Yarn's dominions (Native) 78,000 

3. Malwa, or Central India (Native) . . 78,770 

4. The Orissa States (Native) . . . 52,234 

At present there is access to most parts of the district 
by good roads, and the main railways of India reach 
and cross it. The part of the main line of the Great 
Indian Peninsula Bailway from Bombay to Jubbulpur, 
now advancing to completion, will coast the whole of the 
northern extremity of the Central Provinces, and give 
direct communication both with Calcutta and Bombay. 
The important branch from Bosawul to Nagpur, actually 
open, crosses the Assigned district of Berar to the Central 
Provinces, and lays open an important cotton-growing 
district to the sea at Bombay. The other part of the 
main line of the same system, branching at Calliani and 
completed to Sholapur, is being continued through the 
south-westerly part of the Nizam's dominions to Baichur, 
where it will meet the north-western branch of the Madras 
railway. From Nagpur and Hyderabad there are good 
roads in several directions. There is a line of telegraph 
crossing the district from north to south, and it is pro- 
posed to construct a loop line through Berar. 

The climate of the central part of the Indian peninsula 
is greatly affected by its geographical position. Situated 
on a table land, the country is not subject to the extreme 
and moist heat of Bengal or of the eastern coast. Yery 
large districts, however, are covered by forest, and much 
of the country is inaccessible, and, perhaps in conse- 
quence of the forest, exceedingly unhealthy. 

The natural resources of this part of India are very- 
considerable. There is much coal and iron ore near 
Jubbulpur. Opium is largely cultivated in Malwa. The 

10 



146 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



river valleys yield valuable crops of indigo, hemp, jute, and 
other fibres; while the forests contain trees yielding 
gums and other articles of export. Cotton is cultivated 
vrith advantage almost everywhere. 

1. The Central Provinces. 

General Account. — This group of provinces lies be- 
tween 18° and 24? north latitude, and between 76° and 85° 
east longitude, reaching from Bundelcund in the north to 
the Madras Presidency in the south ; and from the Bengal 
frontier on the east to independent Malwa and the Deccan 
in the west. The provinces extend about 550 miles from 
east to west, and 510 miles from north to south, occupying 
an area of 114,718 square miles. They are for the most 
part wild and rugged, with much forest and brushwood, 
these parts being thinly peopled ; but they include con- 
siderable tracts well cultivated and thickly peopled. The 
whole country is crossed by the Satpura Hills. 

The total population of these provinces is estimated at 
9,104,511. The people are Mahrattas, Mahomedans, and 
Gonds, and there are many of the class called Banjaras, 
who are public carriers attending armies as camp-followers 
in time of war, and in peace transporting grain 5 cotton, 
salt, and other goods, from one part of the interior of India 
to another. The Gonds inhabit the hilly and forest lands, 
and are little advanced beyond the state of savages. They 
worship the goddess Kali, under the name of Mahadevi. 
The languages spoken are Mahratti in jSTagpur, Hindi in 
Sumbulpur, and Telugu in the Godavery country. In 
the Gond district there are many dialects. 

The seasons in this part of India are three — the hot, the 
rainy, and the cold. The hot season begins in April and 
lasts till the middle of June ; the wet season then sets in 
and continues till October; and the cold season lasts from 
[November to March inclusive. At all seasons the range 
of temperature is considerable. During hot weather the 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



147 



heat at noon averages 100°, while the mornings and evenings 
are comparatively cold. In the cold season the mean tem- 
perature is 40° ; but the thermometer sometimes rises sud- 
denly to 80°, and then as suddenly falls. Fogs and hail- 
storms occur at such times, and ice forms in winter. 

The natural productions of the Central Provinces are 
cotton of the finest quality, rice, wheat, maize, millet, oil- 
seeds, opium, sugar-cane, safflower, and indigo. Lac 
abounds in the forests. Fibrous, medicinal, and edible 
plants and trees are also found in great abundance ; and 
there is much valuable timber, and many trees yielding 
resins, gums, and dyes. The mahowa-tree, which is spread 
over the Hill districts, yields food, oil, and an intoxicating 
drink. The mineral resources include iron ore, coal (chiefly 
on the E"erbudda), marble, and building- stone, gold, and 
diamonds. Oxen, buffaloes, sheep, and goats are the do- 
mestic animals. The forests swarm with wild animals 
of the kinds found elsewhere in tropical India. 

There are few arts or manufactures, or other industries, 
beyond agriculture. Weaving, and the making of certain 
brass and copper utensils, and some rude iron manufac- 
tures, are the only exceptions. Agriculture is carried on 
in the rudest manner, especially in the forest districts, 
where ploughing is unknown. A piece of ground is 
selected on a slope covered with trees ; the trees are cut 
down in winter, and the brushwood and grass burnt the 
following spring. In the beginning of June, before the 
Tains, seeds are placed at the upper end of the slope ; the 
rains carry down the seed and distribute it ; and the result 
of this rude process is that a plentiful crop springs up. 

The government of the Central Provinces is conducted 
by a Chief Commissioner appointed by the Viceroy of 
India, the method being that of the non-regulation 
system, as adopted in the Punjab. Under the Chief 
Commissioner are four Commissioners and seventeen 
Deputy Commissioners. The provinces are !N"agpur, 
Jubbulpur, Chuttees Gur, and JSTerbudda. The Central 
Provinces are included within the Bengal Presidency. 

10 * 



148 



GEOGKAPHY OF INDIA. 



The condition of the people in the Central Provinces 
has, till lately, been exceedingly unsatisfactory. Owing 
to the entire absence of education, the want of means of 
communication, and long- continued bad government, the 
people have been among the most backward in India, 
Many of them were altogether barbarous, and sunk in 
the grossest superstition, even human sacrifices being 
offered by the Gonds to their terrible goddess. Crime 
of all kinds was common, and the lower classes dwelt 
in the forests in rude huts, and subsisted on the pro- 
duce of the chase. Even the towns were dirty, ill-built, 
and unhealthy. Since the establishment of British autho- 
rity matters have been improving. In 1818 the Saugor 
and Nerbudda country was ceded ; in 1853 Nagpur was 
annexed, and soon afterwards Sumbulpur ; and the whole 
was constituted a separate government in 1861. In 1862 
an educational system was established, and already there 
are upwards of 1,500 schools, with some 50,000 scholars. 
The schools are as yet on a humble scale, but the im- 
provement is marked. Means of communication have also 
greatly increased. Eoads and bridges, canals, tramways, 
and even railroads, are already in existence ; and the tele- 
graph flashes communication from the capital to the very 
centres of darkest ignorance. The navigation of the Goda- 
very has also been greatly improved. The Great Indian 
Peninsula Railway, open from Bombay to Nagpur, and 
from Calcutta to Jubbulpore, already taps the country at 
two most important points. The ordiaary road from 
Nagpur to Calcutta is in excellent order. 

These provinces are watered by tributaries of the Ner- 
tfudda and the Godavery. The Kerbudda is a river full 
Df natural obstacles to navigation, with several large 
waterfalls, and runs through a country wild and un- 
manageable in every respect. During the rainy season 
its volume is enormously increased. It runs in a very 
direct course about 190 miles to Jubbulpur, and 225 
miles further to Hoshungabad. Below this, for about 
eighty miles, the course is comparatively free from 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



149 



obstacles ; but then occur rapids, and a fall of ten feet, 
which cause a stoppage to navigation. This state of the 
river continues to Juga, 346 miles above the mouth, and 
455 miles from the source. After this it is navigable, but 
shallow. 

The Godavery rises in the Deccan. It is only a group 
of feeders of the upper part of this stream that water 
the Central Provinces. 

Nagpur and Chuttees Gur.— The southern group of 
provinces comprises Nagpur and the Chuttees Gur, each 
divided into several districts. It is watered by the Wein 
Gunga river, a tributary of the Godavery, and by 
tributaries of the Mahanuddy, and is separated from Hy- 
derabad by the Eiver Wurda. It is a tract of consider- 
able elevation, the surface sloping from north-west to 
south-east, and the whole of the drainage being dis- 
charged into the Bay of Bengal, except two very small 
portions, which pass into the Arabian Sea. North of 
these provinces are the districts of Nerbudda and Jub- 
bulpore, which reach the Vindya mountains, and rise to 
about 2,500 feet above the sea. Towards the south the 
surface is less rugged, and finally sinks into an extensive 
plain, about 1,000 feet above the sea. The division of 
Chuttees Gur, in the eastern part of the territory, rises 
in its northern part to 3,463 feet at TTmmurkuntuk, 
where the Nerbudda takes its rise. Southward from this 
summit is the range of the Lanji Hills, about 2,300 feet 
above the sea. These hills divide the province into two 
basins, the northern draining into the Mahanuddy, and 
the southern into the Godavery. The south- easterc 
portion of the Nagpur province is a great wilderness, 
stretching away from the valley of the Wein Gunga 
down to the Godavery on the south, and almost to the 
range of the Eastern Ghats overhanging the littoral 
districts of Bengal and Madras. It is divided into two 
portions by the Idrawatty river, and the part to the 
north of that river is entirely uncultivated and unin 



150 



GEOGKAPTIY OF IXDIA. 



habited. The whole tract is believed to abound with 
forests, but its climate is malarious and even deadly. 
The lower part to the sonth of the Idrawatty is also 
wild and unhealthy, and is described as an interminable 
and primeval forest, with a sprinkling of small villages. 
There are few roads or even paths through it, and it is 
inhabited chiefly by Gonds. 

Although there are no natural lakes in the cultivated 
parts of the district, several very large reservoirs, arti- 
ficially constructed by embankments, close np natnral 
depressions among the hills, and take the place of lakes. 
One of tbese reservoirs is twenty-four miles in circnit. 

The population of the district consists chiefly of 
Hindus, with a few Mahomedans, and nearly half a 
million of Gonds. The Mahrattas having been the 
ruling race, their language is used in the cities, and the 
Gond language is spoken by the people of that race. 

Beyond the eastern extremity of the ISTagpur province 
is a detached portion of territory, now a part of the 
Chuttees Gur. It formed the ancient raj, or native 
state, of Sumbuljour. It extends from lat. 21° — 22° 5' ; 
long. 83° 6' — 84° 51', embracing an area of 4,693 miles, 
and having a population of 274,000. The Eiver Maha- 
middy flows through it, and divides it into two unequal 
parts, the eastern part being mountainous and woody, the 
western level and depressed, with rich alluvial soil, pro- 
ducing abundant crops of rice, wheat, and sugar-cane. 
Gold and valuable diamonds have been found in the bed 
of the Mahanuddy. 

Of the various towns in these two provinces, the fol- 
lowing are the most important : — 

Bustar, or Jugdndpur. — A town on the Idrawatty on 
the frontier of Jeypur. There is a fort adjacent on a 
peninsula formed by the river. Distance S.E. from 
!Nagpur, 225 miles. 

Chan da. — A town on the south-west frontier, near the 
territory of the Nizam, situated on the left bank of 
a small stream. It is a straggling place, fortified by a 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



151 



stone wall, from fifteen to twenty feet high, with ronnd 
towers at intervals. The wall is six miles ronnd. Within 
is a citadel. Distance S. from Eagpur, 85 miles. 

Hingun Ghat. — A town on the Eiver Wnrna, a tribu- 
tary to the Wnrda. It is a place of considerable trade, 
and there is extensive cotton cultivation in the country 
round. From this neighbourhood are obtained specimens 
of silicified palm-trees, and other curious and interesting 
fossils. Distance S. from Nagpur, 45 miles. 

Kampti. — A large British cantonment, nine miles 
from Nagpur. The climate is very hot, and it is subject 
to heavy hail-storms in the month of April. Hailstones 
have fallen measuring nine inches in circumference. 

JSfagpur. — The chief town of the Central Provinces. 
It is situated in a low swampy hollow, on the banks of 
the Eiver Nag, and though there is some drainage into 
reservoirs, the place is muddy and wet during the rains. 
The town is about seven miles in circumference, but very 
straggling and irregular. There is only one good street, 
the others being mean, dirty, narrow, and almost im- 
passable during the rains. There are so many trees 
interspersed among the houses, that at a distance the 
town looks like a forest. These trees interrupt vegeta- 
tion, and render the place unhealthy. Most of the 
houses are built of mud, some being thatched and others 
tiled; but there are a few of large size, built of bricks 
and mortar, with flat terraced roofs. There are no good 
buildings whatever; even the palaces of the late Eaja 
being a mere ugly pile of masonry, unfinished, and little 
ornamented, except by lofty pillars of carved wood sup- 
porting porticos. The manufactures of Eagpur include 
chintzes, coarse blankets, tent cloths, and copper and 
brass utensils. There is a considerable amount of trade 
carried on, and banking business is an important occupa- 
tion. Owing to the recent opening of the railway to this 
town, and the increased means of communication, it has 
greatly improved in all respects. 

Although Nagpur is situated in the very middle of the 
peninsula, about 350 miles from the Bay of Bengal, and 



152 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



420 from the Arabian Sea, the mean annual rainfall is 
heavy, amounting apparently to sixty-five inches, of which 
five-sixths fall in the four SW. monsoon months (June to 
September inclusive). The range of the thermometer is 
small. The mean temperature is about 80°; somewhat 
higher than Calcutta and lower than Madras. The town 
is 930 feet above the sea. Distance ENE. from Bombay, 
440 miles ; W. from Calcutta, 605 miles ; N. from Madras, 
565 miles. The population is estimated at upwards of 
100,000, of whom almost all are Braminists. 

Close to the city, on the west, is the Ridge of Sita- 
buldi, running north and south. The northern is the 
higher part, but the whole length of the ridge commands 
the city in a military sense. It is probably owing to this 
range that the rains are so heavy. 

Buttunpur. — The capital of Chuttees Gur, in the 
eastern part of the district. It is a mere collection of 
huts, situated in a champaign country, abundantly 
watered by little rivers, full of villages, and having 
numerous reservoirs. It is 244 miles NE. of Nagpur. 

Sumbulpur. — The capital of the eastern detached por- 
tion of the Chuttees Gur, bearing the same name as the 
town. It has no trade, though its situation on the river 
Mahanuddy would render it easy to communicate with 
the coast through Cuttack. It is very unhealthy. 

Wyragur. — A small town on the left bank of the River 
Wein Gunga, a tributary of the Godavery, situated eighty 
miles SE. of Nagpur. Near it, in yellow earth, forming 
low hills, were formerly extensive diamond washings, 
but they have been discontinued. It is a place of some 
trade, but has a small population. 

Nerbudda and Jubbulpur. — The northern division 
of the Central Provinces is an elevated table-land, 3,500 
feet above the sea, extending into the mountain ranges of 
the Yindya and Mahadeo to the north, and of the 
Satpura range south of the Nerbudda. It declines 
towards the west to the valley of the Nerbudda, and 
towards the north it also includes some districts watered 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



153 



by the tributaries of the Godavery. Yery large quantities 
of iron ore have been found at various places, and im- 
portant beds of coal have been discovered. Iron is 
smelted at Punassa and other places. Good limestone 
and valuable sandstone, well adapted for building pur- 
poses, have been quarried. The population consists to a 
great extent of Gonds, perhaps the aboriginal race of 
this part of India. They lurk in the gloomiest recesses of 
the forests, and live on wild roots and fruits, wild honey, 
and game. They are even said to be cannibals, and they 
have certainly offered human sacrifices till within a very 
recent period. There is a considerable Mussulman popu- 
lation in some parts, and there are Bramins, Bundelas, 
Rajputs, and Mahrattas. The following are the prin- 
cipal towns of the JSTerbudda and Jubbulpore provinces : — 
JBaitul. — A town pleasantly situated at the foot of the 
Satpura range, on a small river, a tributary of the Iowa 
river, which runs into the Nerbudda near Hoshungabad. 
Coal is obtained in the surrounding district. The town is 
old, and there is a fort. Distance S. from Agra, 370 
miles; NE. from Bombay, 390 miles; W. from Calcutta, 
677 miles. 

Belhari. — A town formerly prosperous, but now ruinous. 
It is on a plain on the north-east frontier of the province, 
and there are some fine Hindu temples in the vicinity, as 
well as in the town itself. Distance from Jubbul- 
pore, 52 miles ; SW. from Allahabad, 220 miles. 

Chindwara. — A town on the route from Saugor to 
the city of Nagpur, situated in the mountainous tract 
called Deogur, above the Ghats, on an elevated table- 
land, having an open space of about four and a half miles 
in circumference on the summit free from jungle. Ele- 
vation above the sea, 2,100 feet. In consequence of its 
considerable elevation, its climate is one of the most 
agreeable and salubrious in India, and it is much visited 
for purposes of health and recreation. 

Damouni. — A town on the frontier towards Bundel- 
eund. It is surrounded by a loose wall. There is a fort 



154 



GEOGRAPHY OF ESDI A. 



on an eminence adjoining, strong and regularly built, with 
interior defences and magazines. 

Damo. — A town near the frontier of Malwa, having a 
large bazaar, and well supplied with water. Distance 

from Calcutta, 775 miles. 

Ho shun g ah ad. — A town on the left bank of the jSerbudda, 
in the valley of the JSerbudda, in a district so remarkable 
for fertility, that it is commonly styled the garden of 
Central India. Besides rich crops, there are very valuable 
seams of coal in the neighbourhood. The town is irregu- 
larly built, and the houses much dispersed. It was 
founded in the early part of the fifteenth century, by 
Hoshung Shah, sovereign of Malwa. It has passed 
through several hands, and was finally ceded to the British 
Government in 1818. The Nerbudda at Hoshungabad is 
half a mile wide, and not fordable opposite the town. It 
is greatly infested with alligators. Near the town is a 
small cantonment. Distance W. from Calcutta, 924 miles. 

Jubbulpur, also on the Upper Nerbudda. It is a large 
well built thriving place, favourably situated in a popu- 
lous and highly cultivated country. The Nerbudda is 
there only 300 yards wide, and is fordable in the dry 
season. Around it are several reservoirs and small lakes, 
which are greatly swollen in the rainy season. The 
country near is particularly interesting to the geologist, 
presenting an unusual variety of porphyritic rocks, 
besides limestone, crowded with fossil bones of a tertiary 
period, including remains of elephants, and of several ex- 
tinct quadrupeds. Excellent coal is found within the 
Jubbulpur district. Distance W. 'from Calcutta, 718 
miles; NE. from ISTagpur, 156 miles. 

Mundla. — A town and fort on the right bank of the 
ISTerbudda, once considered strong, but taken by the British 
in 1818, and now in ruins. 

Nursirigpur. — An important town on the branch of the 
Great Indian Peninsula Eailway now in construction to 
connect Bombay and Calcutta. It is in the ISTerbudda 
Valley, 50 miles below Jubbulpur. 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



155 



'Bangor. — A town built round three sides of a small but 
beautiful lake, about a mile long, which occupies the lower 
part of a basin surrounded with, basaltic rock interspersed 
among sandstones. It is situated in a billy district, and is 
a clean, well built, populous town, with many English resi- 
dents; near the town are military cantonments, said to be 
unhealthy. There is a large fort here, now used as an ord- 
nance depot; and formerly there was a mint, but this is now 
transferred to Calcutta. An iron bridge has been con- 
structed near the town, 200 feet in span, constructed of 
metal obtained in the neighbourhood, and made by native 
workmen. There is an English church and a resident chap- 
lain. Distance 1STE. from Bombay, 500 miles; W. from 
Calcutta, 808. 

Sohagpur. — This town, the principal place of a large 
district, is 170 miles E. of Saugor. It is little known. 

Chota Nagpur (lat. 22° 25'-24° 45'; long. 82°— 
87° 10'; area, 25,284 sq. m.). — A portion of the ancient 
kingdom of Orissa, situated in the south-western corner 
of the Lower Provinces of Bengal, between the division of 
Burdwan and Central India. It is a hilly district, imper- 
fectly known and thinly peopled. It consists for the most 
part of a table-land, between the valley of the G anges and 
the Deccan, in some parts 3,000 feet above the sea. Nume- 
rous streams proceed from it in various directions, of which 
the Damuda^ is the principal. The forests yield large 
quantities of valuable timber, dye-woods, and drugs ; the 
mountains adjacent contain iron and copper ores. There 
are also stores of coal. The whole country is badly 
supplied with roads and other means of communication, 
and is far from the sea, so that although some parts are 
exceedingly fertile, the natural wealth cannot easily be 
rendered available. 

Chota Nagpur is one of the three non-regulation pro- 



* The Damuda is one of the tributaries of the Hoogly, and has, 
a considerable course rising in the hills of Lohardugga. It run 
through a valley extremely rich in coal and iron ore. 



156 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



vinces of Bengal ; Assam and Cooch Behar, on the north- 
eastern frontier, being the other two. It is divided into 
four districts and governed by a Commissioner ; there is 
also a Judicial Commissioner. 

Lohardugga (area 10,314 sq. m.) is the largest of the 
districts of Chota Nagpur, and borders the province Behar. 
It is traversed by many torrents during the rainy season, 
and by one river, the Koel, which is permanent. It 
is a mountainous country, the mountains and valleys 
being covered with jungle, which abounds with valuable 
vegetable products, including the sal, and other trees, and 
remarkable for a species of wild cattle of gigantic propor- 
tions, the wild buffalo, the elk, the nilgau, and other 
interesting animals. There is coal and iron in the moun- 
tains. Lohardugga is the residential town of the pro- 
vince, and has some public buildings, but it is an incon- 
siderable place. An annual fair is held near it. The 
town of Palamow is situated near the Koel, amidst 
mountains containing coal and iron. It is likely to 
become important. 

Maunboom, or Pacliete (area 5,559 sq. m.), is an exten- 
sive district in the east of the province, adjoining Bur d- 
wan. A large part of it consists of a maze of mountains 
and ravines. It has a ruined town (Pacliete) containing 
out few inhabitants. 

Ramgur, or Hazaribag (area 7,021 sq. m.), is another 
large district in the northern part of the province. It 
occupies an extensive plateau of granitic and metamorphic 
rock in the northern part of the province. This plateau 
is 1,800 feet above the sea, thinly peopled, covered with 
forest abounding with wild animals, and traversed by 
many streams. The district is very unhealthy in 
summer. Lead and silver ores are believed to exist in 
the mountains. The towns are very unimportant at pre- 
sent. Hazaribag is small. It has a good bazaar, and was 
once a considerable town. Ramgur is still smaller. 

Bingboom (area 2,390 sq. m.) is a district in the S.E. 
of the province, adjoining the Cuttack Mehals. Chaibassa 
is the only town. Near it copper is worked. 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



157 



2. Hyderabad. 

General Account. — South of the Central Provinces 
is the Deccan, a term which in its nsnal acceptation 
implies the tract of country in Southern India situated 
between the ISTerbudda and Kistna rivers. Properly 
speaking, however, it includes the whole of the territory 
south of the Yindya mountains, comprehending the 
Yalley of the Nerbudda and the narrow tract of low land 
forming a belt round the coast of the peninsula, besides 
the vast triangular expanse of table-land resting on each 
side on the Eastern and Western Ghats, and supported 
at its base by the Satpura, or sub-Yindyan range. 
On the west side the Ghats, or coast range, seldom 
exceed 3,000 feet, though towards the south they rise to 
8,700 feet in the Neilgherries. The Eastern Ghats are 
much lower, not averaging more than 1,500 feet. The 
great table-land of Southern India, or the Deccan, thus 
understood, has a gradual slope eastwards, indicated by 
the course of the streams, which have their origin on the 
eastern slope of the Western Ghats, and make their way 
through fissures in the Eastern. 

The Deccan, in its limited sense, occupies, however, a 
much smaller tract, a large part of which remains as an 
independent country, to a certain extent under British pro- 
tection and supervision, under the name of " the Nizam's 
dominions." It is also called Hyderabad, from the name 
of the capital. This part of India occupies nearly the 
centre of the peninsula, between latitude 15° 10' and 
21° 45' K, and longitude 74° 40' and 81° 32' E. It 
lies between the Wurda and Godavery rivers on the east, 
the River Kistna on the south, and the Bombay territory 
on the west. It comprises 95,334 square miles of country, 
and its population is nearly twelve and a quarter millions. 
It is on the whole a table-land ; but is not without undu- 
lations, rising at Beder to about 2,000 feet above the sea. A 
little beyond that district the table-land reaches 2,700 feet. 
This country is to a large extent covered with brush- 



158 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



wood, and uncultivated, but there is no extent of forest 
trees in any of the jungles. Where irrigated and cul- 
tivated, the soil produces cotton, wheat, and oil-seeds in 
great abundance, and extensive plots of date-palm and 
palmyra-trees are found everywhere. European vege- 
tables are raised in perfection at all the military stations, 
and fruits, as strawberries, figs, grapes, and peaches, 
ripen perfectly. The climate is, on the whole, pleasant 
and healthy. During a great part of the year the tem- 
perature is moderate, and is described as a delightful 
medium between the extremes of heat and cold expe- 
rienced in the northern parts of India. In the cold 
season, from the middle of ^November to the middle of 
February, the thermometer stands at 74°; in the hot 
months, from the latter period to the end of May, at 91° ; 
and in the rains, from the early part of June till October, 
at 80°. The average rainfall is very small, not exceeding 
thirty-two inches, and occurs at the change of the mon- 
soons, the south-west monsoon (beginning of June to 
beginning of October) bringing the heaviest rains. At 
mid-winter, in the northern part of the country, the 
mornings are very cold, and ice is formed, but the days 
are hot. Towards the close of the monsoons, fevers and 
agues are common, but not fatal, except near marshy 
jungles. The water obtained from wells is generally bad, 
and productive of disease. 

The coal in the Nerbudda Valley occupies an area 
140 miles in length, with a varying breadth of from 20 to 
80 miles, and licences have been granted to work it. Coal 
has also been found near Chanda, on the Xizam's side of 
the Wurda, reported to be of good quality. It is probable 
that along the line of the "Wurda, for a distance of 90 
miles, the strata are coal-bearing. 

Hyderabad is crossed by several rivers. The principal 
are the Godavery, with its tributaries, the Dudna, Man- 
jara and Pranhita ; the Wurda with its tributaries ; and the 
Kistna, with its feeders, the Beema and Tungabudra. 

Hyderabad is governed by a potentate called the Ni* 
z^m, or " Begulator," the title of the governor of the 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



159 



Deccan at the time when this, as well as many other 
rulers of provinces, constituted themselves independent 
princes, on the dissolution of the Mogul Empire after 
the death of Aurungzebe, about the middle of the last 
century. At this time the French were still powerful in 
India, and, after the decease of the first Nizam, some of 
the claimants to the succession appealed to the French, 
others to the English. The latter proved the most effi- 
cacious allies, and, after the wars with Hyder and Tippu, 
the ISTizam Ali established his position. But a large debt 
to the English, for military assistance, had by this time 
accumulated, and as there appeared no probability of this 
debt being repaid in any other way, certain portions of 
the territory were assigned for payment. These are 
called "the assigned districts." The rest remains under 
the political control of the descendants of Nizam Ali. 

Assigned Districts of Hyderabad flat. 19° 30'— 
21° 45'; long. 76°— 79° 10'; area , 17,334 sq. m.; pop. 
2,231,565). — This portion of the northern extremity of 
Hyderabad, held in pledge for debts incurred, is now 
under regular British government. It consists chiefly 
of the valuable provinces of Berar. On the south it is 
bounded by the Payne Gunga river, and on the east is 
separated from ISTagpur by the Wurda branch of that 
river. The Tapti, on the north, separates it from the 
Central Provinces. It is watered by numerous branches 
of these streams, and is crossed by the ISTagpur branch 
of the Great Indian Peninsula Bailway. It occupies an 
important position between the British district of Can- 
deish, in the Bombay Presidency, and the province of 
Nagpur, in Central India. As a cotton-growing district 
it is one of the most important in India. Although the 
management is now entirely British, the sovereignty still 
remains with the Nizam. The country is at present 
divided into two Commissionerships (East and West 
Berar), with two districts each. 



160 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

Umrawutti is the principal town, and a station on 
the line of railway. It has long been a place of great 
commercial interest in reference to the cotton trade of 
Central India, and has been in direct commnnication with. 
Bombay for this purpose; but the railway now opened 
has added greatly to its importance. It is a large and 
growing place, 250 miles NE. of Bombay, and 245 miles N. 
of Hyderabad. (Pop. 23,410.) Akowla, or Alzola, is a- 
considerable place, close to the railway. It has high 
walls, well built, and its ruins indicate that it was formerly 
a place of some extent and importance. It is now likely 
to improve. It is about fifty miles nearer Bombay than 
Umrawutti, and its population in 1867 exceeded 14,000. 
Akote is another town of the same size. JUllichjpur was 
the former capital, and is the largest town. Its popula- 
tion is 28,000. It is surrounded by high walls. Mather, 
Gotmal, and Meil are other towns. At the time when 
this valuable country was brought under British adminis- 
tration in 1853, it was in a miserable state, the condition 
of the cultivators being most wretched, and violent crimes 
common. There were few roads, no bridges, and no 
police. Ruined irrigation works have been now restored, 
reservoirs made, railroads and other roads opened, bridges 
constructed, hospitals, schools, and police established, and 
many improvements effected. 

The Nizam's Dominions (lat. 15° 10'— 20° 40'; long. 
74° 40'— 81° 32'; area, 78,000 sq. m.; pop. 10,000,000). 
The general features of the country have been already 
described, and the following description is limited to the 
principal cities and towns. 

Hyderabad, the capital of the whole country and of 
the Deccan, is a fortified city on the River Musey, a 
tributary to the Kistna, in a wild but picturesque dis- 
trict, with granite hills and isolated blocks of granite 
jutting out of the ground through and amongst the 
vegetation. It is about four miles in length and three 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



161 



in breadth. The streets are narrow, crooked, ill paved, 
and dirty, and the houses poor, and chiefly built of wood. 
But the palace and numerous mosques, rising above the 
surrounding buildings, give it an air of grandeur, which 
is much strengthened by the pile of buildings erected in 
the British Residency, and the number of gardens and 
trees within the walls give the whole the character of a 
city built in a vast park. In the environs, also, are many 
fine gardens, containing gorgeous pavilions belonging to 
the nobles. There is a handsome stone bridge across the 
river. The population comprises a restless, reckless mass 
of Rohillas, Arabs, Afgans, Patans, and others, esti- 
mated at 200,000. Elevation above the sea, 1,800 feet. 
Distance NW. from Madras, 389 miles ; SE. from Bom- 
bay, 449 miles ; SW. from Calcutta, 962 miles. 

As say e. — An insignificant village, at the confluence of 
the rivers Kistna and Juah, in the tongue of land or 
doab between them. It is celebrated for the great 
victory gained here on the 23rd September, 1803, by 
Major- General "Welle sley, afterwards Duke of Welling- 
ton, with 4,500 men, over 50,000 Mahrattas, of whom 
10,500 were disciplined and commanded by European 
oflicers. 

Aurungabad. — A decayed walled city on the Dudna, a 
tributary of the Godavery. Pop. 60,000. The view from 
the east is pleasing, trees being interspersed among the 
houses, and a tall mausoleum rearing its dome and 
minaret above the other buildings. It contains the pa- 
lace of Aurungzebe, and a mausoleum built by him. 
The tomb is a bad resemblance of the Taj Mehal. Dis- 
tance NW. from Hyderabad, 270 miles. 

Beder. — A large town near the Manjara, a tributary of 
the Godavery, situated on a table-land 2,360 feet above 
the sea, and 100 feet above the surrounding country. It 
was formerly the capital of a principality of the same name. 
It is surrounded by lofty walls. It is now chiefly noted 
for various manufactures of a kind of bronze (twenty- 
four parts tin and one of copper), coloured black, and 



162 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



ornamented with designs in gold and silver. Distance 
WW 4 from Hyderabad, 75 miles. 

Bolarum. — A military cantonment for the troops of 
the Nizam, 11 miles 1ST. of Hyderabad, and 1,890 feet 
above the sea, on an elevated plateau of granite. It is 
very healthy. 

Daverlconda. — A town on a hill, near one of the tri- 
butaries of the Godavery, about fifty miles south of Hy- 
derabad. It is well supplied with water. 

Dowlatabad. — A town and rock-fortress, ten miles 
NW. of Aurungabad, near the north-west frontier of the 
Nizam's dominions. The original name was Deogur, The 
town is at the base of the rock, an isolated cone of granite 
rising 500 feet above the plain. For nearly a third of 
the height the rock is scarped, and presents all round a 
perpendicular cliff. Access to the summit is obtained by 
a narrow opening excavated in the rock, leading to a large 
vault, whence a narrow winding passage, also cut out of 
the rock, leads to the top. At the base of the hill is a 
deep ditch, crossed only by one narrow causeway. 

Eidgir. — A town on the left bank of the Beema, a 
tributary of the Kistna, 100 miles SW. from Hyderabad. 

Ellora. — A decayed, town thirteen miles ' IS W. of Au- 
rungabad, formerly a place of some note. It is supposed 
to have been built in the tenth century. In the neighbour- 
ing mountain are the excavated temples of Ellora, consist- 
ing of a group of caves at irregular distances from each 
other, and at different levels, opening out of the face of a 
cliff looking towards the west, and rising to considerable 
elevations at the two extremities. The sculptures in these 
caves are among the most remarkable works ever pro- 
duced. They all refer to early Hindu mythology. 

Golconda. — A fort and ruined city (the capital of an an- 
cient kingdom) situated seven miles W. of Hyderabad, and 
now used as a state prison. About 600 yards from the fort 
are the splendid tombs of the kings of Golconda, who ruled 
over this territory in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies. They form a vast group in an arid, desert, rocky 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



163 



ground, the stern features of which heighten the impres- 
siveness and grandeur of these astonishing buildings. 
They are chiefly constructed of grey granite. The 
diamonds formerly obtained at Punna, were cut and 
polished at Golconda ; but no diamond mines exist near 
the town. 

Jaulna. — A British cantonment in a dreary barren 
country, about forty miles east of Aurungahad. The 
climate is very well adapted to food-crops of all kinds. 
Jaulna is an old town on the Kundulka, two miles S W. of 
the cantonment. It was formerly large and flourishing, 
and was a place of manufacture for silks. It still has 
10,000 inhabitants. The houses are well built. Opposite 
is the town of Kaderabad, with 7,000 inhabitants. 

Kulburga. — A large town and military station, 110 
miles from Hyderabad. 

Kummummut. — A town on the left bank of the Mun- 
yair, a considerable tributary of the Kistna. It is the chief 
town of the district of Falun Shah, held by an officer 
who is almost independent of the Nizam. Distance l£ 
from Hyderabad, 110 miles. 

Mulkair. — A town on an important tributary of the 
Beema. Distance W. from Hyderabad, 86 miles. 

Nandair. — A town on the left bank of the Godavery. 
It is a place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs, who pay their 
devotions at the tomb of a saint assassinated here. There 
is a Sikh college. Distance 1ST. from Hyderabad, 145 
miles. 

Nelgunda. — A town at the foot of a granite hill, sur- 
mounted by a fortress 1,000 feet above the plain. 

Nirmul. — A large town, nine miles north of the Goda- 
very, on the road from Hyderabad to Nagpur. Distance 
"N. from Hyderabad, 120 miles. 

Becunderabad. — One of the chief British cantonments 
in India. It is six miles north of Hyderabad ; and the 
barracks and quarters extend upwards of four miles in a 
straight line from east to west. There is a large reser- 
voir in the neighbourhood, three miles in length by two in 

11 * 



164 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



breadth, called the Husain Sagur tank. The surround- 
ing country is granite. Elevation above the sea, 1,837 
feet ; distance NW. from Madras, 398 miles. 

Wurwngal, or Wcurungul, — The ancient capital of Telin- 
gana, but now a decayed place. The four gateways of 
the Temple of Siva still continue in a state of tolerable 
preservation. Distance from Hyderabad, 86 miles. 

3. Malwa, or Central India. 

The portion of the Indian peninsula called Malwa is 
a table-land of uneven surface, elevated from 1,500 to 
2,000 feet above the sea-level, bounded on the west by 
the Aravalli range of mountains, on the south by the 
Yindya chain and the Central Provinces, on the east by 
Bundelcund, and on the north-east by the Yalley of the 
Ganges. It occupies a position between the Central Pro- 
vinces and the North-Western Provinces of Bengal, both 
already described. It is divided into a number of prin- 
cipalities held by native chiefs, all of them being under 
the political superintendence of an Agent appointed by 
the Yiceroy, who resides at Indore. 

The whole extent of the various states is nearly 80,000 
square miles. For the most part, they are well watered 
and exceedingly fertile, enjoying a fine climate ; and they 
contain a large population. 

Malwa was formerly a powerful kingdom, preserving 
its independence through a Hue of kings for 130 years. 
It was then annexed to the imperial dominions by Akbar, 
and continued so till its subjugation by the Mahrattas. 
It afterwards fell under the power of the Pindaris, an 
infamous tribe of plunderers, who were forced by the 
Marquis of Hastings to resort to more honest means of 
obtaining a livelihood than they had been accustomed to. 
They are kept in order by the Bheels, a corps embodied 
in 1840, and supported by the various princes. 

The following are the principal states. There are some 
others, but they are very small and unimportant : — 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



165 



Ali Mohun, or Rajpur Ali (lat. 22° 2—22° 30'; long. 
74° 16'— 74° 44'; area, 708 sq. m.; pop. 69,384). — A 
small state between the Yindya Hills and the ISTerbudda, 
formerly belonging to the Eaja of Dar. There is a large 
and well built town, named Rajpur, with a good bazaar. 

Amjerra (lat. 22° 16—22° 47'; long. 74° 40'— 75° 15'; 
area, 584 sq. m. ; pop. 57,232). — A little state in the south- 
western corner of Malwa. It yields much opium, besides 
Indian corn, millet, cotton, and sugar. It has a small 
town, well supplied, situated in a valley open to the 
north, at an elevation nearly 2,000 feet above the sea. It 
is twelve miles west of Dar. 

Bopal (lat. 22° 32'— 23° 46'; long. 76° 25'— 78° 50'; 
area, 6,764 sq. m. ; pop. 663,656). — This state is bounded 
by the River Nerbudda to the south. The Yindya Hills, 
which enclose the valley of the Nerbudda, bound it to 
the north, and terminate in a plateau sloping gently to 
the north. This plateau is crossed by the Betwa, which 
is one of the tributaries to the Jumna, and by several 
small feeders of the Betwa. Bopal is governed by a 
ISTawab, who is now a Begum, and much of it is held by 
chiefs. The chief town is Bopal, two miles in circuity 
and surrounded by a wall of masonry, much dilapidated. 
Outside the town is a large commercial quarter, with 
wide straight streets. The residence of the Nawab is at 
Futtegur, on the south-west of the town. Beyond this 
is a lake four and a half miles long, deep, but apparently 
artificial, and full of fish and alligators. Sehore is a con- 
siderable town. 

Bundelcund, or the Bundela country (lat. 23° 52' — 
26° 26'; long. 77° 53'— 81° 39'; area of native states, 
8,394 sq. m. ; pop. 1,142,000). — This extensive district is 
partly British, and partly governed by native princes. 
The British portion includes Banda (p. 90), Humirpur 
(p. 91), Jaloun, Jansi, and Lullutpur (p. 101). The 
country consists of plains, diversified by mountains, 



166 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



which have been classed into three ranges — the Bin- 
dachal, the Punna, and the Bandair. From these, 
numerous streams flow into the Jumna. There are con- 
siderable mineral resources, among which are diamonds 
in Punna, and coal elsewhere. Iron is found every- 
where. The climate is not unhealthy to the natives, but 
very fatal to Europeans in some places. 

The following are the native states : — 

Ajygur (area, 340 sq. m. ; pop. 45,000). It contains a 
hill fort on an isolated granite summit. Within it are 
ruins of temples containing very remarkable sculptures. 

Allypura (area, 85 sq. m. ; pop. 9,000). 

Baoni (area, 127 sq. m. ; pop. 18,000). 

Behut (area, 15 sq. m. ; pop. 2,500). 

Beri (area, 30 sq. m. ; pop. 2,500). 

Berounda (area, 275 sq. m. ; pop. 24,000). 

Bijmour (area, 920 sq. m.; pop. 90,000). 

Bijna (area, 27 sq. m. ; pop. 2,800). 

Bysonda (area, 8 sq. m. ; pop. 8,000). 

Ghurhari (area, 880 sq. m. ; pop. 81,000). 

GJmtterpur (area, 1,240 sq. m.; pop. 120,000). — The 
chief town is a thriving place, with manufactures, pic- 
turesquely situated. 

f Dumvae (area, 18 sq. m. ; pop. 8,000). 

Duttea (area, 850 sq. m.; pop. 120,000).— The town 
is interesting, with architectural relics. 

Goriar (area, 76 sq. m. ; pop. 24,000). 

Goroivli (area, 50 sq. m. ; pop. 5,000). 

Jigni (area, 27 sq. m. ; pop. 2,800). 

Jusso (area, 180 sq. m. ; pop. 24,000). 

Kamjota (area, 1 sq. m. ; pop. 300). 

Logasi (area, 29 sq. m. ; pop. 3,500). 

Muckri (area, 10 sq. m. ; pop. 1,600). 

Nyagaon (area, 30 sq. m. ; pop. 5,000). 

Nygoivan (area, 16 sq. m. ; pop. 1,800). 

Oorclin., or Teliri (lat. 24° 25'— 25° 35'; long. 78° 23 A 
—79° 22'; area, 2,160 sq. m. ; pop. 240,000).— The largest 
of the native states of Bundelcund. The northern extre- 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



167 



mity is crossed by the Betwa river, a tributary of the 
Jumna, and it is surrounded by small states. The Eaja 
is the head of the Bundela race. The chief town is three 
miles in circuit, with a wall of unhewn stones. It is on a 
rocky eminence, and contains a temple ornamented with 
lofty spires. 

Pahari (area, 4 sq. m. ; pop. 800). 

Pahra (area, 10 sq. m. ; pop. 1,600). 

Paldeo (area, 28 sq. m. ; pop. 3,500). 

Punna (lat. 23° 52'— 25° 5'; long. 79° 50'— 80° 45'; 
area, 688 sq. m. ; pop. 67,500). — A small state, south of 
Oorcha, celebrated as having contained in former times 
very valuable and extensive deposits of diamond matrix, 
which extend from twelve to twenty miles north-east of 
the town of Punna. There are some mines close to the 
town. The ground at the surface and a few feet below 
consists of ferruginous gravel, mixed with reddish clay, 
containing a few diamonds. From twelve to forty feet 
below this is the real diamond matrix — a conglomerate of 
pebbles, of quartz, jasper, hornstone, Lydian stone, and 
other minerals. These are pounded and washed. Below 
the matrix is a sandstone 400 feet thick ; and there are 
said to be indications of coal underlying the whole mass. 
The town of Punna is in ruins. It was formerly well 
built and well paved, and is crowded with Hindu temples. 
The ruined palace of the Eaja is very beautiful. The 
whole place is inhabited by monkeys. 

Purwa (area, 12 sq. m. ; pop. 1,800). 

Sumtur (area, 175 sq. m. ; pop. 28,000). 

Burela (area, 35 sq. m. ; pop. 4,500). 

Telwi (see Oorcha). 

Tehri Futtejpur (area, 36 sq. m. ; pop. 6,000). 
Turaon (area, 12 sq. m. ; pop. 2,000). 
Urcha (see Oorcha). 

Burwani (lat. 21° 41'— 22° 9'; long. 74° 29'— 75° 22' ; 
area, 1,380 sq. m. ; pop. 22,217). — A hilly district, the 
patrimony of a Bheel chief. It extends along the left 



168 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.. 



bank of the Nerbudda, and is within the Satpnra range 
of hills. The country contains much fine timber, and is 
well watered; but is only partially cultivated, and the 
population is scanty. The town of Burivani is two miles 
from the Nerbudda. It is surrounded by a double wall. 

Dewas is made up of scattered portions of territory of 
trifling dimensions. There are altogether about 256 square 
miles, and a population of 25,000. It is ruled conjointly 
by two Rajput chiefs, whose ancestry is very distinguished. 

Dar. — Another larger state, whose Raja's territory 
includes many detached patches at some distance from 
each other. The whole area is 2,091 square miles, and 
the population about 125,000. Much of the land is very 
fertile, producing abundant crops of rice, wheat, millet, 
maize, pulse, oil-plants, sugar-cane, tobacco, opium, ginger, 
cotton, hemp, turmeric, and excellent vegetables. The 
Raja is of very ancient family. There is a chief town, 
also called Dar, 33 miles W. of Mow, and 183 E. of Ba- 
roda. It is nearly three miles and a quarter long, and half 
a mile wide. It is surrounded by a mud wall, and has many 
striking buildings, among which are two large mosques of 
red stone. Water is abundant. Outside the city is a 
fort on an eminence forty feet above the plain. The city, 
once very fully peopled, is now almost deserted. 

Gwalior Territories.— These territories, the posses- 
sions of the Sindia family (hence sometimes called 
Sindia), have a singularly irregular outline, and consist of 
several detached districts, well watered by the Chumbul, 
the Kali Sind, the Tapti, and the Nerbudda, and nume- 
rous tributaries of these streams. The extreme points of 
the territory are included within lat. 21° 8'— 26° 50' ; long. 
74° 45' — 79° 21'; and the area of the whole comprises 
about 33,000 square miles, with a population of 2,500,000. 
The northern part of the country, which is of moderate 
elevation, and either rocky or sandy, has a very unhealthy 
climate in the wet season, when the air is always at the 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



169 



point of saturation ; but during the dry and hot seasons 
this is not the case. The middle, southern, and western 
parts have a mild and equable climate, owing to the 
elevation of the surface. The nights are always cool 
and refreshing. The people consist to a great extent of 
Bramins, of whom there are very numerous tribes. There 
are also Mahrattas, Jats, Rajputs, Bats, and Charuns. 
The rulers are Mahrattas. 

The founder of the ruling family of the Gwalior states 
was Banoji Sindia, belonging to the tribe of cultivators, 
and a domestic of the Peishwa, or ruler, in the beginning of 
the last century. He rose from that to be a Mahratta chief 
of considerable importance, and was succeeded in 1750 by 
one of his sons, who attained still greater power. At the 
death of this son, in 1794, the territories of the Sindia 
family included Candeish, in the Bombay Presidency, 
Agra, Delhi, and the finest parts of the Doab. His suc- 
cessor was defeated at Assaye and lost a large part of 
his possessions, and died childless. After an interval of 
disturbed government, a British force marched into 
Gwalior, in 1843, to] restore order. In 1853 the present 
Maharaja was entrusted with the administration, and 
the country has since been well governed. 

Bilsa, on the Betwa, is celebrated for some curious 
monuments of antiquity in its neighbourhood. These con- 
sist of hemispherical constructions of vast size, connected 
with the worship of Buddha. The tobacco grown near 
Bilsa is regarded as the finest in India. Distance E. 
from Oojein, 134 miles ; S. from Gwalior 190 miles. 

Gwalior, the capital, is a large old town, of 50,000 
inhabitants, irregularly built, and very dirty, but with 
one very beautiful building — a mausoleum. The town is 
built along the eastern base of a completely isolated 
rock of sandstone capped with basalt, about a mile and 
a half long, and 300 yards wide, the site of one of the 
celebrated hill-forts of India. Around are several hills, 
at a distance of from one to four miles. The height of the 
basaltic capping is 342 feet above the plain, at the 



170 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



highest point. The fort is entered by a steep road, suc- 
ceeded by steps cut in the rock, but of so moderate an 
acclivity that elephants easily make their way up. There 
is a succession of seven gates before the summit is 
reached, and all are properly defended. It is said that 
15,000 men would be required for the defence. The fort 
is very ancient, having been built in the eighth century. 
It has been frequently besieged and sometimes taken, 
more than once by stratagem, at other times by treachery. 
In 1779 it was scaled and taken by a sudden surprise by 
the English, and again in 1858 it was taken by Sir H. 
Eose. Distance S. from Agra, 65 miles; NW. from 
Calcutta, 772. 

Mundesor, on a tributary of the Chumbul, eighty miles 
NW. from Oojein, is a town with a well supplied bazaar. 

Neemuch. — A town and British cantonment near the 
Mewar frontier. It has a good bazaar. The camp stretches 
two and a half miles, with a breadth of a mile, and there 
is every convenience. The climate is exceptionally favour- 
able and pleasant. There are no manufactures. 

Oojein. — A city on the right bank of the Sipra. It is 
oblong, and surrounded by a stone wall six miles in cir- 
cuit. The houses are much crowded, and are built with 
wooden frameworks filled with brick. There are four 
mosques and many Hindu temples. Outside the town 
are many beautiful gardens. About a mile to the north 
of the town are the ruins of the ancient capital of Malwa, 
destroyed by some unknown cause. This town was one of 
the seven sacred cities of the Hindus, and the first meri- 
dian of their geographers. It was called Avanti, or Visala. 
Distance from Gwalior, 260 miles. 

Indore Territory. — This territory also consists of a 
number of widely separated tracts of country, covering* 
altogether an area of 8,318 square miles, with a population 
of 576,000. The northern parts are watered by the Chum- 
bul and its tributaries. The southern form part of the 
valley of the jSferbudda, and are crossed by the Vindya 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



171 



and Satpura mountain chains. They are the posses- 
sions of the Holkar family ; the founder of the family was 
a cultivator of Hul, a village of the Deccan. He was 
born in 1693, and before he attained the age of sixty he had 
acquired the general management of Mahratta affairs in 
Malwa, and possessed the district of Indore. He died in 
1767, and was the most distinguished of the military com- 
manders of the Mahratta race. For thirty years the coun- 
try was well governed by the widow of his only son, and 
another of the tribe who was military chief. The autho- 
rity was assumed by one of the sons of this chief, who at 
first distinguished himself against the English. After 
much righting, hostilities were terminated by a decisive 
battle, gained by the English, in 1817, at Mahidpur. The 
territory is at present governed by a Maharaja, the Eng- 
lish engaging to maintain a force for the preservation 
of internal tranquillity, and for defence against foreign 
aggression. 

The population of Holkar's dominions is estimated at 
about a million. Mahrattas are the ruling tribe ; but there 
are many other classes of Hindus, a few Mahomedans, 
and many Gonds and Bheels. Indore is especially the 
country of the Bheels, who were once the most wild and 
savage tribes in India, living in forests on wild vegetables 
and game, and plundering their neighbours. They have 
been converted into excellent soldiers by the English. 

The country is fertile, producing wheat and other grains, 
opium, sugar-cane, tobacco, and cotton, in abundance. 
Opium is a very important crop. The following are the 
principal towns : — 

Agur. — A large town in an open plain near a reservoir. 
Pop. 30,000. It is 1,600 feet above the sea. 

Banpura.—A. town on the River Rewa, sixty miles 
E. of aSTeemuch, and the same distance S. of Kota. It is 
at the foot of a range of hills, and is surrounded by a wall. 
Population 20,000. Elevation above the sea 1,344 feet. 
There is a fine but unfinished palace within the walls. 

Indore. — The capital and chief town of Malwa, and the 



172 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



station of the British Resident. It is small, and irregu- 
larly built of sun-dried bricks, and contains a few mosques 
and temples, of no interest. The palace and the house of 
the Resident are surrounded with groves and gardens, and 
form a pleasing scene. The city is square, each side 
about 1,000 yards. Distance W. from Calcutta, 1,030 
miles ; KE. from Bombay, 377; SW. from Agra, 402. 

Mow. — A town and British cantonment, thirteen miles 
W. of the town of Indore, 2,019 feet above the sea, and 
situated on an eminence near the Ganibir river. The 
cantonment is large, convenient, and healthy, and beauti- 
fully situated. 

Mundlaisir. — A town on the right bank of the IsTer- 
budda, here 500 yards wide. It is surrounded by a mud 
wall, and has a bazaar. It has a small fort. This town 
belongs to the British Government. Distance NE. from 
Bombay, 334 miles; NW. from Nagpur, 327 miles; SW. 
from Indore, 14 miles. 

Rampura. — A town on the north bank of the river 
Taloyi, formerly the capital and residence of the Court. 
It is of considerable size, is surrounded by a wall, and 
has a good bazaar. North-east of the town is a Hindu 
temple, a place of pilgrimage in the month of April. Dis- 
tance jNT. from Indore, 100 miles ; from Oqjein, 95 miles. 

JabuaCat. 22° 50'— 23° 11' ; long. 74° 18'— 75° 2 / .— 
A state, inhabited by Bheel tribes, regarded as part of 
Indore, adjoining Amjerra and Banswarra. Borai 
and Juchnowda are included. The town of Jabua is 
beautifully situated in a valley at the eastern base of a 
ridge of hills. It is enclosed by a mud wall. There is a 
fine lake south of the town, on the banks of which is the 
Raja's palace, which is fortified. 

Jowra (lat. 23° 32'— 24° 10'; long. 74° 53'— 75° 35'; 
area, 872 sq. m.; pop. 85,456).— A small territory be- 
longing to a Patan chief entitled Nawab of Jowra. It 
has a small town of the same name on the river Piria, 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



173 



with abundant supplies. The river is crossed by a hand- 
some stone bridge. 

Koti (100 sq. m. ; pop. 30,000). 

Kurwai (lat. 23° 50'— 24° 12'; long. 78° 2'— 78° 15'; 
area, 200 sq. m.; pop. 19,600).— A small state with a 
considerable town on the Betwa, and a strong fort. The 
inhabitants are Patans, and its chief formerly held a 
large territory. Opposite the town, on the other side of 
the river, is Boraso, also a considerable place. 

Myhir (1,026 sq. m. ; pop. 100,000).— The town is 
large, and has a good market. 

Ocheyra (436 sq. m. ; pop. 120,000). 

Onnitwarra Gat. 23° 28'— 24° 9'; long. 76° 19'— 77° 11'; 
area, 1,348 sq. m. ; pop. 132,104). — A small state in the 
heart of Malwa, subdivided into Nursingur and Bajgur, 
and governed by two chiefs. There are small towns, one 
in each division. 

Eewa, or Bagelcund, and Mukundpur (lat. 23° 20' 
—25° 10'; long. 80° 40'— 82° 52'; area, 9,827 sq. m.; 
pop. 1,200,000). — A mountainous country between the 
2Torth- Western and Central Provinces of India, rising in 
three successive plateaux from the valley of the Ganges. 
The first range is only about 500 feet above the sea, the 
second from 900 to 1,200 feet. The third, called the 
Kaimur range, is of much greater altitude. The lower 
range is sandstone, and barren ; the second well cultivated, 
and produces grain. The third is exceedingly fertile. The 
produce is wheat, barley, pulse, and cotton. Coal and iron 
are found in large quantity. There are several rivers, 
none of them navigable. The country is well supplied 
with roads ; and there is now a main line of railway at 
no great distance. The population — the Bagel race — 
consist, for the most part, of Rajputs. The town of 
Rewa is built on the bank of a tributary of the Tons ; 



174 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



it is small, and has an appearance of poverty, but is sur- 
rounded by three lines of rampart. 

Kutlam (lat. 23° 2'— 23° 36' ; long. 74° 42'— 75° 18' ; 
area, 936 sq. m. ; pop. 91,728). — A state situated in the 
western extremity of Malwa, bordering on Hajputana. 
There is a large well built town of the same name, with 
good bazaars, containing 10,000 inhabitants. It is go- 
verned by an influential, though poor, Eajah. 

Shagur (676 sq. m. ; pop.. 30,000). 

Sohawal (179 sq. m. ; pop. 80,000). 

Seeta Mow (area, 208; pop. 20,384). 

4. Orissa States. 

A number of states, of which Jeypur is the largest, 
between the Central Provinces (p. 146), and that part of 
the Madras Presidency called the Northern Circars. It is 
part of the ancient kingdom of Orissa (see note, p. 49). 

Jeypur (lat. 17° 15'— 19° 45'; long. 81° 28'— 83° 56'; 
area, 13,041 ; pop. 400,000). — A tract of country in the 
ancient territory of Orissa, including a number of 
small states called the " Hill Zemindars." It is a wild 
rugged district, destitute of roads and other evidences of 
civilization, and inhabited by the tribes called Konds. 
The climate is very unhealthy. The Konds dwell in 
villages in the forests, each village consisting of two 
streets, composed of a double row of timber-built huts 
with thatched roofs. Many of the villages are stockaded. 
The people are warlike, wear very little clothing, and their 
chief occupation is hunting. Their agriculture is of the 
rudest kind. Schools have lately been introduced among 
them, and it is understood that their condition is im- 
proving, and that they are becoming more civilized. The 
British Government is represented in Jeypur by a Political 
Agent appointed by the Viceroy. 



CENTRAL INDIA. 



175 



South- West Frontier of Bengal States. 
Bombra (area, 1,244 sq. m.; pop. 55,980).— It adjoins 
Sumbulpur to the east, and is crossed by the Brahminy 
river, which connects with the delta of the Mahanuddy. 

Bonie (area, 1,057 sq. m.; pop. 47,565). — A state 
situated to the north of Bombra, inhabited by very 
uncivilized races. 

Bora Samba (area, 622 sq. m. ; pop. 47,990). — A small 
state near Sumbulpur, situated on an elevated table-land, 
inhabited by savages. The climate is very cool. 

Burgur (area, 399 sq. m. ; pop. 17,955). — A very small 
state adjoining Eyegur. 

Gangpur (lat. 21° 50'— 22° 37'; long. 83° 31'— 84° 57'; 
area, 2,493 sq. m. ; pop. 112,185). — A vast jungle, 
affording admirable sport, but of little value to the 
human population. The soil is said to be rich. 

Jushpur (area, 617 sq. m. ; pop. 27,765). — A high 
table-land, overrun with jungle, but yielding rice, grain, 
and oil, in the cultivated parts. 

Kerial, or Bokur (area, 1,512 sq. m. ; pop. 68,040). — 
A wild uncultivated country, with a savage people. The 
town is Kerial. 

Korea (area, 2,225 sq. m.; pop. about 100,000).— A 
wild state, in the north-western part of Orissa, near 
Eewa, inhabited by savages. 

Nowagur (area, 1,512 sq. m. ; pop. 68,040). — A badly 
governed state, near Berar. 

Patna (area, 1,158 sq. m. ; pop. 52,110). — A badly 
governed state, near Sumbulpur, crossed by two streams. 

Phulgur (area, 890 sq. m. ; pop. 40,050). — A level 
district, at a considerable elevation, with a good but 
neglected soil. The country is overrun by wild buffaloes. 

Eyegur (area, 1,421 sq. m. ; pop. 63,945). — A plain 
country, high and wild, but improving. The town is 
prettily situated. 



176 



GEOGRAPHY OF IjSDIA. 



Sarungur (area, 799 sq. m.; pop. 35,955).— A small 
state, separating Sumbulpur from the main portion of 
the Chuttees Gnr. 

Sirguja (lat. 22° 34'— 23° 54/; long. 82° 40'— 84° 6'; 
area, 5,441 sq.m. ; pop. 316,252). — A large state adjoining 
Chota Nagpur. The country is rugged and mountainous, 
rising 500 to 600 feet above the adjacent table-land. It 
is crossed by two streams flowing towards the north; they 
are torrents in the rainy season, but generally shallow. 
The forests abound with the wild animals of the Indian 
jungle, and they contain much valuable timber. There 
are two towns, but the principal town is in ruins, and the 
other a mere village. 

Sonepur (area, 1,467 sq. m.; pop. 66,015).— A flat, 
well cultivated district, on the Mahanuddy. The heat is 
intense. 

Sucti (area, 268 sq. m.; pop. 12,060). 

Cuttack Mehals. 

A small group of native states, behind the British 
district of Cuttack, and between that district and Chota 
Nagpur. They consist of — 

Autmalik (area, 648 sq. m. ; pop. 29,160). 

Boad (1,377 sq. m,; pop. 61,965). — The town is on the 
Mahanuddy, which is navigable to this point from the sea 
190 miles. It was formerly more important. 

Duspulla (162 sq. m. ; pop. 7,290). — The celebrated car 
of Juggernauth is made of the sal tree, which grows to 
enormous size in the forests of this state, and supplies the 
timber. 

Kunjerry (Keunjur) (5,022 sq. m.; pop. 225,990). — 
This raj was for a time under British rule. 

Mohurbunge (2,025 sq. m. ; pop. 91,125). 

Nilgar, Nyagur, Sokinda, Tachirrya, and some other 
very small states, making up a total area of 6,834 square 
miles, and a population of 346,275. 



CHAPTEB Y. 



Western India. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions — General Account — Bombay — 
1. Bombay Provinces, Northern Division: — Ahmedabad 
District — Bombay and Colaba District — Broach District — 
Candeish District — Kaira District — Surat District — Tanna, or 
Northern Concan District. Southern Division : — Ahmed- 
nuggur District — Belgaum District — Canara (North) District 
— Darwa District — Kuladgi District — Poona District — Rutna- 
gerry District — Sattara District — Sholapur District. 2. Sincl. 
3. Native States North of Bombay: Cutch — Guzerat States 
— Kyrpur — Eewa Caunta. 4. Native States South of Bom- 
bay : Jinjira — Kolapur — Sattara Jaghires — Sawunt Warri 
— Southern Mahratta Jaghires. 5. Portuguese Possessions. 
— Daman — Diu : — Goa. 6. Aden. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions. — That part of India 
which lies to the west of the Bengal Presidency, Central 
India, and the northern part of Mysore in Southern India, 
comprises the whole of the Presidency of Bombay and a 
number of native states. The total area thns included 
is 206,423 square miles, and the population upwards of 
20,000,000.* It extends for nearly 1,000 miles in length, 
from the southern extremity of the Punjab in the north, 
in latitude 28° 45', to the northern extremity of South 
Canara district on the Malabar coast, in latitude about 14°. 
It is everywhere narrow, the widest part in the peninsula 
of Guzerat not exceeding 350 miles. It has a very 
extended line of coast on the Arabian Sea, reaching from 
Kurrachi in Sind, to the Malabar coast, broken by 



* The total area of British territory in this Presidency, according 
to a careful comparison of the most recent returns, is 126, 64& 
square miles, containing a population of nearly 13,000,000. 

12 



178 GEOGRAPHY OF IXDIA. 

two deep inlets, the Gulf of Cutcli and the Gnlf of 
Cambay. It is conveniently subdivided into five prin- 
cipal groups of territories of very unequal niagnitude- 
and importance : — 

Area in 
square miles. 

1. Northern and Southern Provinces of 

Bombay (British) . . . 7*2,245 

2. Sind (British) 54,403 

3. Native states North of Bombay > ^g 

4. Native states South of Bombay ) 

5. Portuguese possessions . . . 1,167 

General Account, — Western India is crossed by the 
Lower Indus, the Myhi river, the Nerbudda, and the 
Tapti, besides a considerable number of small streams 
proceeding from the Western Ghats. It is crossed, or 
rather entered, by the western extremity of the Yindya 
range and the spurs that extend from that chain north- 
wards, and also by the Satpura range, between the 
Nerbudda and the Tapti. But its chief mountain chain 
is that of the Western Ghats, which ranges parallel to the 
coast, under various local names, from the Tapti south- 
wards, and at a distance varying in different places, but 
averaging about fifty miles. Much of the ciilminating ridge 
of the chain is within the district. The climate varies con- 
siderably, as might be expected from the great extent in 
latitude and the difference of level above the sea. In 
Sind it is sultry and very dry. Further to the south 
the coast also is sultry ; but the greatest heats are not so 
excessive as in many other parts of India. The mean 
temperature is there about 80°. The rainfall also, fur- 
ther south, is heavy, averaging at Bombay between 
seventy and eighty inches, but the extremes are very 
wide. The fall in one year at Mahabaleshwar has been 
recorded at 248 inches; in the Poona collectorate, on 
the other hand, the average fall is not twenty inches, and 
at Kurrachi it is only about seven. The natural pro- 
ductions are cotton, rice, millet, barley, and grain. These 



"WESTERN INDIA, 



179 



are grown everywhere. Sugar-cane and coffee are grown 
in some places, wheat and the potato in Guzerat, indigo 
in Candeish. The forests contain valuable timber, gums, 
drugs, and dyes. Cocoanut-palms form a fringe along the 
coast, and plantains, mangoes, and the common Indian 
fruits are grown in abundance. The animals are those 
of other parts of India. 

Of the population the majority is Mahratta ; but there 
are great numbers of Jains, Guzeratis, Bheels, Parsees, 
and Jews, besides Europeans. The prevailing religion is 
Hindu ; but Mahomeclans are numerous. The languages 
spoken in the south are Mahratta and Canarese. 
Guzerati is spoken in the north. Portuguese, Arabic, 
Urdu, Persian, and English are all employed. 

Agriculture is the great employment of the bulk of the 
people. Sugar, indigo, and silk are made in many places. 
At Poona paper is made. Pottery, of a common kind, is 
manufactured everywhere. "Weaving is carried on to a 
trifling extent ; but there are no manufactures on a large 
or important scale. There are admirable means of com- 
munication, the roads being well designed and well con- 
structed, giving to all important places a ready outlet for 
manufactures and produce. In addition to these, the 
lines of railroad executed and now in operation have 
already opened out the country, and are calculated to do 
so much more. The railway system of the Presidency 
will be found described in pp. 39, 40. 

Of mineral and vegetable productions, it may be suffi- 
cient here to mention that coal is obtained in Cutch ; hemp, 
jute, and other fibres from Sind, Surat and Sattara, 
besides the coast of the north and south Concan ; indigo 
from Sind, the eastern part of Guzerat, and near Surat, 
and cotton from Sind, Cutch and Guzerat, and the 
country between the My hi and the Kerbudda. There are 
forests between the Nerbudda and the Tapti, and also 
at ISTassic, in the district of Ahmednuggur. 

The Presidency of Bombay is divided into three prin- 
cipal divisions — ]STorthern. Southern, and Sind. Each is 

12 * 



180 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



under a Commissioner, and they are subdivided into 
twenty districts, each governed by a Magistrate Collector. 

Bombay, the capital of the presidency, is situated in ~N. 
lat. 18° 53' and E. long. 72° 48', at the south-eastern 
extremity of the island of the same name, which is con- 
nected with another island, Salsette, by an artificial cause- 
way and bridge. The island of Bombay is about eight miles 
long, and is composed of two ranges of rock of unequal 
length, with an intervening hollow or valley about three 
miles wide, which has been converted from an unwhole- 
some swamp into a healthy residence. Besides being 
united to Salsette (which is an island eighteen miles in 
length and ten miles wide), Bombay island is also joined 
by a causeway to Old Woman's Island to the north, and 
Colaba to the south. This long line of natural breakwater 
in front of the coast of the mainland has produced a land- 
locked harbour of fifty square miles, which is increased to 
eighty by including a shallow bay to the north of Salsette. 
The east side of this harbour is rendered picturesque by 
several islands, one of which is Elephanta, so called from 
a rude figure of an elephant in black marble cut out of the 
rock. In this island are celebrated and magnificent 
cavern-temples, of the most singular and magnificent pro- 
portions, excavated out of the rock. The chief temple 
consists of three sanctuaries or shrines, the largest being 
about 130 feet square. The figures, symbols, and sculp- 
tures relate to the mysteries of Hindu mythology. 

The town of Bombay is divided into two parts — the 
European and the Kative. In the former the houses are 
well built, lofty, and handsome, with many churches, 
mosques, and other fine buildings. In the latter the houses 
are small, the streets narrow and crowded. Externally the 
appearance is attractive, and indicates great wealth, the 
public buildings of the Government and private establish- 
ments being prominent and handsome. The hospital and 
caravanserai called Daramsala, due, to a great extent, to 
the princely liberality of the well-known Parsee, Sir 
Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, are especially remarkable. The 



WESTERN INDIA. 



181 



Parsees generally are the most progressive and most en- 
lightened people of Western India. 

The harbour of Bombay is the largest and safest in 
India, and has every requisite for a great seaport. It is 
easy of access, affords excellent anchorage, is sheltered, 
and admirably adapted for docks and shipbuilding. Ships 
of the largest size are here constructed. The commerce is 
of great extent and importance. 

The population of Bombay exceeds 800,000, and is of 
the most varied character, including, besides the English, 
Parsees, Hindus, Mahomedans, Jews, Portuguese, Chinese, 
and Malays ; and, indeed, people from every part of Asia, 
all speaking their native languages and wearing their 
national dress. Of these, the Hindus are more than 
half, and the Mussulmans and Parsees are nearly equal in 
numbers. All the rest together hardly amount to more 
than one-fifteenth of the population. The city is not un- 
healthy, the death-rate differing little from that of 
London. 

Bombay is distant W. from Calcutta, 1,040 miles ; NW. 
from Madras, 645; SW. from Delhi, 730; NW. from 
Poona, 75. 

1. Bombay Provinces. 
Northern Division. 

Ahmedabad (lat. 21° 22'— 23° 30'; long. 71° 26'— 
72° 50'; area, 4,356 sq. m. ; pop. 700,000).— This is one 
of the two most northerly of the districts of the Bombay 
Provinces. It is level, the hilly tracts of the Meywa 
terminating at its extreme north, from which the country, 
at first undulating, soon subsides into flat plains. It is 
bounded on the east by the Sabur Mutti river, which 
separates it from the collectorate of Kaira, but is un- 
navigable. A part of the district between the head 
of the Gulf of Cambay and the Eunn of Cutch is 
liable to be flooded. The hills in the north yield a fine 
building- stone, but road material is very difficult to find, 
and thus the roads are heavy and in bad condition. 



182 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



Bailways have now rendered this comparatively unim- 
portant. The soil is very fertile, and produces wheat, 
rice, millet, grain, sugar-cane, and cotton. The water 
for irrigation is drawn from wells. The inhabitants are 
well off and well clothed, and occupy comfortable brick- 
built houses. 

Ahmedabad (pop. 130,000) is the principal town. It 
is on the Sabur Mutti, at the northern extremity of the 
district. It was founded in 1412, and at the commence- 
ment of the seventeenth century was one of the finest cities 
in India, the walls being still of vast extent, and strong. 
Their circuit, however, is now less than six miles, and the 
place is much deca} r ed, although numerous ruined 
mosques, palaces, mausolea, aqueducts, and fountains 
attest its ancient glories. The great mosque (Jumma 
Musjid), the mosque of Sujat Khan, and the ivory 
mosque (built of white marble, and lined with ivory 
inlaid with gems) are among the most magnificent struc- 
tures of their kind in India. Near the city are beautiful 
gardens, and a small artificial lake, with an island on 
which is a summer palace. There is a good supply of 
water to the city, there are good schools, and an English 
church and chaplain. Distance 1ST. from Bombay, 290 
miles; W. from Calcutta, 1,020; SW. from Delhi, 190. 
Dolera, a town near the head of the Gulf of Cambay, 
has lately become important, and now numbers several 
thousand inhabitants. A tramway has been laid to the 
coast. Gogo, on the west coast of the Gulf of Cambay, 
has good anchorage, and is safe during the south-west 
monsoon. ISTear it is Perim, a small island, in which 
have been found a number of tertiary fossils of the sub- 
Himalayan period. The best Lascars in India are from 
this place. Water and firewood are scarce. Distance 
H, from Bombay, 190 miles. 

Bombay and Colaba (lat. 18° 26'— 18°48 / ; long. 72° 55' 
—73° 12'; area 18 sq. m.; pop. about 60,000). — A dis- 
trict including the islands and territory around Bombay 



WESTERN INDIA. 



183 



and an island on the Concan coast, a little sonth of 
Bombay. The country is rich in teak forests and other 
timber. The island of Colaba is well situated for shelter, 
and has been a resort for pirates. Bombay, the only im- 
portant town, has been already described (see p. 180). 

Broach (lat. 21° 22 — 22° 11'; long. 72° 30'— 73° 10' ; 
area, 1,319 sq. m. ; pop. 300,000). — A small district on 
the east shore of the Gulf of Cambay, bounded on the 
north by the Myhi, and on the south by the Tapti, 
and crossed by the embouchure of the Nerbudda and by 
the Eiver Dadur. It is thus well watered, and includes 
the delta of the ISTerbudda, but is not unhealthy, and 
has a moderate rainfall. The country is level, and the 
roads tolerable. Cotton is an important crop. The town 
of Broach is on the right bank of the JSTerbudda, about 
thirty miles above the mouth, and has been a large and 
flourishing place. It had much decayed about twenty 
years ago, but has since revived, and now has 80,000 
inhabitants, and exports large quantities of cotton. Dis- 
tance !N". from Bombay, 190 miles. 

Candeish (lat. 20° 10'— 21° 58'; long. 73° 37'— 76° 20'; 
area, 9,311 sq. m. ; pop. 800,000). — A district in the in- 
terior, north of Ahmednuggur. It is an extensive basin, 
traversed from east to west by the Tapti, and flanked on 
the north side by the Satpura range, and on the west by 
the Western G-hats. The lower part of the district is 
fertile, but much of it is now covered by jungle. The 
roads are good, and a great deal has been done to improve 
the condition of the people. A large part of the popula- 
tion consists of Bheels, who were formerly very trouble- 
some, but are now reduced to order. JDidia is a con- 
siderable town on the main line of road from Bombay to 
Agra, 181 miles north-east of Bombay. Mulligaum is 
another large town nearer Bombay, and not far from tha 
Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Both are on tributaries 
of the Tapti. 



1&4 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Kaira (lat. 22° 12 / — 23° 33'; long. 72° 30'— 73° 27'; 
area, 1,869 sq. m. ; pop. 600,000). — The northernmost dis- 
trict of these provinces. It is traversed by the Bombay 
and Baroda Eailway. The conntry is flat, and destitute 
of canals and navigable rivers. It produces the usual 
grains, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and opium. The principal 
town, Kaira, is of considerable size, and situated on a 
small stream in the midst of a fertile and beautiful coun- 
try. The town is surrounded by a wall, and contains a 
curious Jain temple, partly subterranean. The climate is 
hot and unhealthy. Distance north from Bombay, 265 
miles. 

Surat (lat. 20° 15'— 21° ll 7 ; long. 72° 45'— 73° 24'; 
area, 1,629 sq. m. ; pop. 500,000). — A small district 
on the coast south of the Tapti, resembling Broach, 
which it adjoins. The roads are sandy, and the country 
flat. The town of Surat, on the Tapti, at a distance of 
twenty miles from its mouth, is large, and has 130,000 in- 
habitants. Its trade was formerly much more important 
than at present. The town is ugly and uninteresting, 
and the river of little use, as it is fordable when the tide 
is out, and has a troublesome bar. Distance 1ST. from 
Bombay, 150 miles. 

Tanna, or Northern Concan (lat. 17° 56'— 20° 20'; 
long. 72° 42'— 73° 48'; area, 5,795 sq. m. ; pop. 880,000). 
— A strip of territory on the mainland, commencing 
east of Bombay and Salsette Island, and extending 
for some distance northward. It includes hilly tracts, 
intersected by ravines, which are excessively rugged, 
and covered with jungle infested by wild beasts. On 
the hills are forests of teak and other timber. There 
is no river of importance, and no harbours sufficient to 
shelter ships, but there are many creeks on the coast, 
where pirates formerly found refuge. The crops are not 
of much importance, though on the low lands they in- 
clude those common in similar localities in other districts. 
Tanna, the chief town, is a flourishing place of 10,000 



"WESTERN INDIA. 



185 



inhabitants. It is on the line of railway from Bombay to 
Nagpur, and is only twenty-four miles from the capital. 

Southern Division. 

Ahmednuggur (lat. 18° 16'— 20° 30'; long. 73° 29'— 
75° 37'; area, 9,931 sq. m.; pop. 1,000,000).— A district 
extending for a considerable distance parallel to the 
coast behind Bombay, and within the line of the Western 
Ghats, which form part of its western boundary. Several 
spurs are thrown out eastward from the ridge, and 
between them are table-lands slightly inclining towards 
the south-east. These are beautiful, and highly cul- 
tivated. The country is traversed by good roads, which 
form the communication from the Nizam's dominions to 
the coast. The produce is chiefly grain. The manufac- 
tures include silk and coarse cotton cloths. 

Ahmednuggur, the principal town, is naturally de- 
fended by a living wall of cactus (prickly pear), about 
twenty feet high, and very thick. The town is large and 
increasing. It has a choultry, a place for the accommo- 
dation of travellers, large enough to hold 250 persons. 
Distance E. from Bombay, 122 miles; SW. from Cal- 
cutta, 930 miles. Nassic, formerly Panchavati, a sacred 
city among the Hindus, and more revered even than 
Benares. Notwithstanding this, it contains many Budd- 
hist excavations and remains. Nassic is a very im- 
portant and improving town, and from its position on 
the main line of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, its 
salubrity, and security from sudden attack, it has been 
suggested as the fittest place to adopt as the seat of the 
Supreme Government of India. It is about 100 miles 
from Bombay. 

Belgaum (lat. 15° 23'— 16° 39'; long. 74° 2'— 76° 23' ; 
area, 5,405 sq. m. ; pop. about 1,000,000).— A district in 
the southern part of the presidency, within the Ghats, 
and adjoining the Portuguese territory of Goa and some 
small independent states. The town of Belgaum is small^ 



186 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



but has been recently much improved. It has important 
educational institutions. It is situated on the plain east 
of the Ghats, 2,500 feet above the sea. Distance S. from 
Bombay, 246 miles. 

Canara, North (lat. 13° 35'- 15° 30'; long. 74° 9'— 
75° 10'; area, 4,300 sq. m.; pop. 50,000).— The most 
southerly of the Bombay collectorates, extending south- 
wards on the coast from Goa, and having a coast-line o: 
nearly 80 miles. It is one of the most fertile districts in 
India ; but from one end to the other of its long line o 
coast there is not a safe station for vessels of even mode- 
rate size, although there are numerous creeks and inlets. 
The plains between the foot of the Ghats and the sea are 
studded with cocoanut-palms and rice-fields. The hill- 
slopes produce cardamoms, pepper, and areca-nuts ; and 
the summits of the Ghats are crowned with dense forests 
of teak and other valuable woods. The population is 
chiefly on the plains and along the coast, the hilly dis- 
tricts being unhealthy. There are several small streams 
running from the mountains to the sea, two of them form- 
ing magnificent falls, one of them 880 feet. The towns in 
North Canara are few and small. Honaivar is the prin- 
cipal, and was once rich and beautiful, though now in 
ruins. Cumta was also once of some note, and is now a 
port for the shipment of cotton from the southern Mah- 
ratta country to Bombay. Carivar, on the coast, is well 
adapted for a harbour. 

Darwa (lat. 14° 16—15° 50'; long. 74° 50'— 76°; area, 
3,837 sq. m. ; pop. 1,000,000).— One of the most southerly 
districts of the Bombay Presidency adjoining North 
Canara. A great part of it consists of extensive plains 
among the Western Ghats, but inclining to the south-west, 
and traversed by streams that enter the Arabian Sea. 
Many parts are fertile and grow cotton; and there are 
good roads for the conveyance of produce. The town of 
JJarwar is of no great importance. Hubty, though ill 



WESTERN INDIA. 



187 



built, is thriving, and has much trade. It is one of the 
principal cotton marts of the southern Mahratta country. 
Distance SE. from Bombay, 290 miles. 

Kuladgi (lat. 15° 50'— 16° 35'; long. 75° 20'— 76° 20'; 
area and population undetermined). — A district beyond 
Sattara, and formerly part of that collectorate. It is 
on the plateau, and borders on the Nizam's dominions, 
being watered by tributaries of the Kistna. Kuladgi 
is the chief town. It is on a small tributary of the 
Kistna. Bijapur is a ruined town, once the capital of 
a powerful kingdom, with lofty walls, presenting from the 
outside the appearance of a flourishing city ; but within 
all is solitude, silence, and desolation. The chief objects 
are the mausoleum of Mahommed Ali Shah, the great 
mosque, and the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah. Both the 
former are grand edifices, and the latter is exceedingly 
graceful. Distance from Bombay, 245 miles. 

Poona (lat. 17° 53'— 19° 26'; long. 73° 20'— 75° 10'; 
area, 5,298 sq. m. ; pop. 750,000). — A large district in 
the interior, immediately to the east of Bombay. It is an 
elevated table-land, with a few hills rising above it ; and 
some small spurs of the Western Ghats, part of whose 
culminating ridge forms its western boundary. Several 
streams cross it, which ultimately enter the Beema, a 
tributary of the Kistna. There are good roads across 
the district. The climate is very dry, but not unhealthy; 
and the vegetation is adapted to the climate. There are 
few trees, but by irrigation good crops of rice, maize, 
millet, cotton, sugar-cane, and potatoes are obtained. 
The inhabitants are Mahrattas. The chief town is 
Poona, on the Muta, in a treeless plain 2,000 feet above 
the sea, and overlooked by the Ghats, which rise 1,000 
feet above the plain. It is a station on the Great Indian 
Peninsula Railway. It has recently been greatly im- 
proved, [and almost rebuilt. Its population is now 
100,000, but is said to have been much more formerly. 



188 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



Poona is an important military station. Distance SE. 
from Bombay, 74 miles. 

Rutnagerry, or Concan (lat. 15° 44'— 18° 6'; long. 

73° 6' — 73° 58'; area, 3,964 sq. m.). — This district, 
which is also called the Southern Concan, is a long strip 
of land between the coast of the Arabian Sea, sonth of 
Bombay, and the Western Ghats. The quantity of 
arable land is small, as the rise from the coast to the 
mountain ridge is rapid, and the soil rocky, but on the 
whole, cultivation is good, and the people are well cared 
for. Bice and grain are the chief products. The chief 
town, Rutnagerry, is on the coast. Viziadroog, or Geria, 
is another town. Neither is important,- but Geria has 
an excellent harbour. It is 170 miles S. of Bombay. 
Vingorla is another small town in a sheltered bay. It 
is 215 miles S. of Bombay. 

Sattara (lat. 16° 22'— 18° 32'; long. 73° 24'— 76° 25' ; 
area, 10,222 sq. m.; pop. about 1,000,000*). — A large 
district on the eastern side of the Ghats, divided into 
two parts by a ridge nearly parallel to the chain of the 
Ghats, extending for sixty miles to the Kistna. Near 
the Ghats the surface is rugged, and the climate wet, the 
rainfall in some places being nearly 300 inches. On the 
eastern side, however, the rains are light and uncertain, 
and the rainfall not more than twenty-four inches. The 
climate is healthy. The productions are cereals, pulses, 
fruits, coffee, flax, cotton sugar, opium, and tobacco. 
Within the district, and beyond it to the west, are pos- 
sessions of chieftains who hold the land under the 
English by a kind of feudal tenure. Sattara, the chief 
town, is immediately below a remarkably strong hill 
fort, on a detached summit, 1,100 yards long, and 500 
yards across. The scarp is about forty] feet of perpen- 

* The area and population include those of the district of 
Kuladgi, recently separated. 



WESTERN INDIA. 



189 



dicnlar rock, above which is a stone wall. It has been 
frequently taken. It lies SE. from Bombay 115 miles. 
Punderjpur, on the Beema, is a large and populous town, 
with a temple of peculiar sanctity. 

MahabalesliwaT is a small town and sanatorium about 
4500 feet above the sea, on a rugged and undulating 
table-land of the Western Ghats, whose western but- 
tresses rise abruptly from the adjacent Concan. The 
greatest breadth of this plateau is at the northern end, and 
is about fifteen miles ; but its extent, taken diagonally, is 
seventeen miles. It is connected with the Ghats further 
south by a narrow isthmus. The district is remarkable 
for the violence of the monsoons and the abundance of 
rain. Rain falls on 227 days to the extent of 229 inches. 
The water, however, runs off very quickly; and there 
are no marshes. The winter season is delicious. The 
town is about 4,500 feet above the sea. Distance NW. 
from Sattara, 30 miles. 

Sholapur (lat. 16° 10'— 18° 34'; long. 75°— 76° 28'; 
area, 4,991 sq. m. ; pop. 700,000). — A district on the 
left or eastern bank of the Beema river, reaching to 
the Kistna, which forms its southern frontier. It is an 
undulating surface, presenting a selection of upland and 
valley, well watered, but devoid of trees. The climate is 
dry and healthy, the rainfall being exceedingly small, but 
several streams cross the district. Cotton is the staple 
product, and is sent in enormous quantities to Bombay. 
The roads were bad, but the railway from Bombay to 
Madras is now open to the town of Sholajpur, which is 
in the eastern part of the collectorate. It is an improving 
place. Distance SE. from Bombay, 220 miles. Bar si is 
a depot for cotton. 

2. Sind. 

The province of Sind lies between lat. 23° 35' and 
28° 30'; long. 66° 20'— 71°. Its area is 54,403 sq. m.; and 
its population about 1,800,000. It is detached from the 
other provinces of Bombay Presidency by Cutch and 



190 



GEOGRAPHY OZ INDIA. 



Guzerat, and the greater part of it lies between Rajputana 
and Beluchistan, with a frontage of abont 130 miles on 
the Arabian Sea. The north- eastern portion consists 
partly of the desert called the Thur, bordering on the 
Great Bunn of Cntch. There are four districts — Kurrachi 
(area 19,240 sq. m. ; pop. 330,000), Hydrabad (area 
23,974 sq. m. ; pop. 760,000), Shikarpur (area 9,042 sq. m. ; 
pop. 650,000), and the Frontier of Upper Sind (area 2,147 
sq. m. ; pop. 50,000.) 

This large and important province comprises the lower 
course and the delta of the Indns, and forms the westerly 
extremity of the British dominions in India. Its name 
is synonymons with that of the river, which is called 
indifferently the Sind or the Indus. On the melting of 
the snows this great stream rushes furiously down from 
the distant Himalaya to the sea, breaking down banks 
and whirhng along with it trees and every other object 
coming within its influence. In winter it is calm and 
sluggish. The width of the modern delta is 150 miles, 
from the Kori, which separates it from the Bunn of 
Cutch, to Cape Monze, fifteen miles beyond Kurrachi. A 
large part of it is submerged at spring tides. Along this 
great length of coast Kurrachi is the only safe harbour. 
The delta may be said to commence at Tatta, about 
fifty miles from the extremity, and its surface is about 
3,000 square miles. It is almost level, and nearly desti- 
tute of timber. The soil is alluvial, except in some rocky 
portions of small extent. 

Beyond the delta on each side are other alluvial tracts 
of ancient delta, having an exceedingly rich soil, whose 
fertility is exceeded in no country on the earth. Beyond 
this, again, is a considerable breadth of land, also very 
fertile when irrigated, consisting of the cloah, or tongue- 
shaped interval between the JSTarra branch and the Indus, 
whose width is seventy or eighty miles, and which con- 
tinues for 300 miles. In this part, however, are two lime- 
stone ranges, a hundred feet above the sea. Although 
very rich, much of the soil in the lower part of the Indus 



WESTERN INDIA. 



191 



valley yields salt on evaporation, and for this, as well as 
other reasons, irrigation is necessary for profitable culti- 
vation. The actual soil is generally a stiff greasy clay, 
occasionally intermixed with sand. 

The climate of Sind is remarkably dry and sultry. 
The recorded rainfall at Kurrachi and Hydrabad is so 
small as to be almost nominal, and further north, at Lark- 
ana, three years have elapsed without rain. Occasionally, 
no doubt, there are heavy showers and severe storms, even 
in the rainless country, but the country is so situated as to 
escape the influence of both monsoons. The range of the 
thermometer is very wide. In summer, at Sukkur, the 
temperature is 102°, and further north it is even greater. 
In winter there are frosts. 

The soil yields two crops in the year when watered. The 
first crop is sown in spring and reaped in autumn, and 
consists of rice, maize, sugar, indigo, and cotton; the 
crop sown in winter and reaped in spring consisting of 
wheat, barley, millet, oil-seeds, hemp, and tobacco. Fruits 
of many kinds are grown, and gigantic grasses furnish 
excellent material for ropes and thatch. There is a rich 
variety of animal life, including camels and buffaloes, 
tigers and other feline animals, wild asses, wild hogs, and 
deer. 

The Sindians are a mixed race of Jats and Beluchis, 
and are partly Hindus, partly Mahomedans, in religion. 
The men generally are a fine people, and the women are 
proverbially beautiful. The fishermen are particularly 
handsome. But in every town, and on the banks of the 
Indus, there are swarms of lazy worthless beggars, or 
fakirs, who extort alms from the poor cultivators of the 
soil, under the pretence of religion. 

The language of Sind, called Sindi, is a dialect of 
Sanskrit. West of the Indus Beluchi is spoken. Per- 
sian is used by the educated classes. 

The manufactures include silk and cotton, cloth, paper, 
leather, swords, and fire-arms. Earthenware is made in 
all the towns, and gunpowder in most. The natives 



192 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



excel as weavers, turners, and dyers, and their wooden 
lacqured work is well known. The trade of the country 
is rapidly increasing. Since its annexation, the commerce 
has been set free from absurd restrictions; roads and 
canals have been made, waste lands brought under 
cultivation, and schools and other educational institutions 
organized. The effect is already very manifest. 

There are numerous towns in Sind, some of them 
of considerable importance, and having large and busy 
populations. The following are the most important : — 

Hydrabad, the capital, is situated four miles east of the 
Indus, on a low rocky range called the Gunja Hills, and 
on an island between the main stream of the Indus and 
the Fulailee branch, It has a fortress, once regarded as 
strong, but not now defensible, and walls, which, with 
their bastions, are more picturesque than useful. It is 
a poor, badly built town, with one principal street, and 
an extensive bazaar. There are some handsome tombs 
in the cemetery. Distance NW. from Bombay, 751 miles. 
Kotri, opposite Hydrabad, is now connected with Kur- 
rachi by rail, and with Mult an in the Punjab by steam. 
Meant, the site of a celebrated battle won by Sir Charles 
ISTapier, with 3,000 men over the Ameers of Sind with 
22,000 followers, is six miles north of Hydrabad. 

Kurrachi. — This place, the chief port of Sind, is 
situated almost at the western extremity of the country, 
and close to the extreme boundary of British India. It is 
near the base of a low hill range, on a level space ex- 
tending to the sea, well sheltered by a rocky headland, 
which projects south-eastwards from the mainland, leaving 
a space of about two miles, where a good natural har- 
bour is formed, containing, however, both sandbanks and 
rocks, and having a bar at the entrance. The harbour 
is spacious, and though the town is three miles from 
the landing-place when the tide is out, it has been ren- 
dered easy of access. Kurrachi is a place of very great 
commercial, political, and military importance, and its 
trade is increasing steadily and rapidly. It is the ter- 



WESTERN INDIA. 



193 



minus of the Shad Eailway, already open to Hydrabad. 
Between the two towns is Tatta, formerly wealthy and 
important, but now miserable, unhealthy, and chiefly in- 
habited by beggars. It is close to the head of the modern 
delta of the Indus. Near it are remains of ancient 
cities, with some fine specimens of building, and a ceme- 
tery six square miles in extent. 

Larhana is a town situated in one of the most fertile 
tracts in Sind, about seven miles from the Indus. It is 
one of the chief grain marts of India, and has a good 
bazaar, some silk and cotton manufactures, and about 
12,000 inhabitants. It is one of a group of three towns 
in the northern extremity of Sind. Rori, or Lolmri 
(population 8,000), is on the left bank of the Indus, built on 
a rocky eminence of limestone, forty feet above the river. 
It has a striking appearance from without, as the houses 
are lofty ; but they are badly built and ruinous. The 
freshets of the Indus at Eori rise sixteen feet above the 
lowest level of the stream, and thus render the position of 
the town very convenient. The streets, however, are very 
narrow, and the air is close and unwholesome. The num- 
ber of mosques is enormous. In the largest there is pre- 
served a single hair in amber, supposed to be a hair of the 
beard of Mahomed, kept in a richly jewelled case. Buk? 
hur, close by, is a huge fortress, built on a rocky island in 
the channel of the Indus. Bhiharpur is one of the most 
important commercial towns in Sind, with 30,000 inha- 
bitants. It lies twenty miles west of the Indus. It has 
a great transit trade, and is the resort of Hindoo mer- 
chants, who have commercial relations all over the East. 
It is at the junction of routes in every direction. Sehwan 
is a small mud-built town, near which is a tomb much 
visited by pilgrims. Sulckur is a decayed town on the 
right bank of the Indus. It is very picturesque, and of 
some commercial importance, but is only half the size of 
Eori. Vihhur is a town on one of the branches of the 
Indus, within the delta, 60 miles SB. of Kurrachi. 



13 



194 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



3. Native States North of Bombay. 

Cutch (lat. 22° 47—24° 40'; long. 68° 26'— 71° 45'; 
area, 6,500 sq. m. ; pop 409,522). — This singular tract 
of almost detached land, about 205 miles from east to 
west, and 110 miles across, is interposed between the 
desert tract in the south of Eajputana and the sea, 
and forms a connecting link between Guzerat and 
Sind. It is intersected by two hill-ranges of mode- 
rate elevation. Both indicate volcanic activity. In the 
valley between, and in the plain to the south, there 
are large fertile tracts. On the northern side of the hills 
there is also a broad belt of luxuriant pasturage. The 
country is characterized by a deficiency of water, al- 
though, during the rainy season, numerous torrents 
descend from the hills, and sometimes cover the low 
ground. The sub- soil is porous, and no supply can be 
secured in reservoirs, but wells are numerous, and yield 
a good supply of excellent water. Among minerals, coal, 
iron ore, and alum are obtained. Bice, millet, sugar-cane, 
cotton, and some fruits are the chief vegetable products ; 
but during a great part of the year, large tracts of 
country exhibit nothing but a rocky and sandy waste, 
and the produce of the cultivated lands is not sufficient 
to support the scanty population. The province abounds 
in game and wild beasts, and it possesses a peculiar breed 
of horses, besides a beautiful species of wild ass in large 
herds. The climate is healthy, temperate, and agreeable, 
except during the three hot months, when the heat is ex- 
cessive. In winter, on the other hand, the cold is severe. 

The land of Cutch is separated from the main land of 
the Indian Peninsula to the north and east by salt 
marshes of enormous dimensions, called "the Bunns of 
Cutch." That to the north (the Great Bunn), is about 190 
miles in length, varying in breadth from two to ninety miles, 
and has a total area of upwards of 7,000 square miles. 
The smaller is a triangular space, about seventy miles 
a side, and its area is 1,600 square miles. These vast 



WESTE11N INI- 1 A. 



195 



level spaces are alternately swamps, deserts, and lakes. 
In the dry season, they are sandy wastes, interspersed, 
with wide sheets of shallow pools of salt water, ridges of 
sand, and patches of tamarisk. In the rainy season, 
they are covered about knee-deep with water. In this 
respect they resemble the deltas of some large rivers. 
There are several islands within the boundaries of each, 
and peninsulas enter them from the main land. The 
bottom is slimy, hard, dry, and sandy, and clay is rare. 
The quantity of salt is so great, that the surface is often 
encrusted an inch deep, and crystalline lumps of salt as 
large as a man's fist may be picked up. They are occa- 
sionally flooded by sea- water blown into them. At other 
times they are entirely inundated by rain-water and 
swollen streams. At all times fresh water is scarce, 
except in the rocky islands. The wild ass roams through- 
out. The phenomenon of the mirage (called sirab) 
is very strongly exhibited, and magnifies objects very 
highly, so that patches of shrubs resemble forests, and 
the wild asses, the largest animals, appear as large as 
elephants. During the dry season, the reflection of the 
sun from the glazed saline surface resembles the sparkle 
of water. Flies are so numerous that it is almost im- 
possible to breathe without swallowing some ; and even if 
they do not bite, it is difficult to force a horse through 
their swarms. Several roads, passable by vehicles, cross 
the Great Eunn in the narrowest portions; but to cross it 
during day time, in the dry season, is almost impossible. 
Besides the wild ass, which is peculiar to the B/unns, 
there are apes, and porcupines, and vast flocks of birds. 
On the subsidence of the water after the rainy season, 
multitudes of dead prawns and fish are strewn over the 
surface, and become very offensive. During an earth- 
quake in 1819, a mound of earth, many miles in extent, 
was uplifted, and large tracts of land submerged. 

The inhabitants of Cutch are partly Hindus and 
partly Mahomedans. The ruling class are Jarejas, a 
branch of the Rajput tribes. They are a singularly fine 

13 * 



196 



GEOGKAPHY OF I> T DIA. 



race of people, robust and warlike, but dissipated, proud, 
and cruel. The mariners are fearless and enterprising, 
and the best pilots in India. 

The government of Cutch is peculiar. There are 
about 200 chiefs, who exercise unlimited authority within 
their respective domains, and form a kind of brotherhood 
or council. Over these is a superior chief or king, called 
the Rao, who advises with them on all Political Affairs. 
The English are represented by a political agent ap- 
pointed from Bombay. The annual revenue of the Eao 
is about eight lakhs of rupees (£80,000). 

Booj is the capital of Cutch. It is situated at the 
base of a fortified hill near the centre of the district. 
Viewed from the north, it has an imposing appearance, 
the number of white buildings, pagodas, and mosques, 
interspersed with plantations of date-palms, giving an 
idea of respectability entirely removed on entering the 
town. The streets are narrow, dirty, and almost impass- 
able, owing to the numerous herds of sacred bulls. The 
Eao's palace is a large white stone castle, enamelled out- 
side and decorated with beautiful carvings. There is a 
fort. Luckput, seventy-one miles W. of Booj, is on the 
SS. bank of the channel which connects the Great Bunn 
with the Arabian Sea. This channel was once a branch 
of the Indus, but is now a mere creek. It is on elevated 
ground, and there is a fortress. Mandavi, thirty-four 
miles SW. of Booj, is the principal seaport, and has 
considerable trade ; it is on the Gulf of Cutch. 

Guzerat States. — The territory thus named, including 
the Peninsula of Katiwar and other dominions of the 
Guicowar and his tributaries, besides a number of inde- 
pendent states, is bounded by Cutch, Bajputana, Central 
India, the Bombay Province of Candeish, and the 
Arabian Sea. Its limits are lat. 19° 50'— 24° 45'; long. 
69° — 74° 20' ; and it contains about 55,000 square miles, 
of which area nearly half is comprised within the penin- 
sula. The population exceeds four and a half millions. 



WESTERN INDIA. 



197 



This tract is for the most part flat, and yields cotton, 
rice, wheat, barley, millet, grain, sngar-cane, and fruits, 
in abundance. Amongst animals, the quadrupeds in- 
clude lions (a maneless lion), tigers, leopards, wolves, 
hysenas, and deer. Camels, buffaloes, oxen, and horses, 
are common ; the wild ass is found in the uncultivated 
tracts, and with it wild cattle resembling the bison. 
The flamingo, adjutant bird, and many water-fowl are 
common. The mainland is watered by the Rivers Sabur 
Mutti, Bunass, My hi, ISTerbudda, and Tapti. The Western 
Ghats constitute the eastern boundary of the district, 
but they are not lofty. There are hardly any ordinary 
roads, but the railway is now available to Baroda, the 
capital. Of the people, the ruling tribes are Mahrattas. 
Rajputs, Jains, and Bramins abound, the latter being 
the landed proprietors. Mussulmen, Boras, and Par sees 
are found in the towns; and Coolies, Konds, Katties, 
and Bheels in the country. There are also two singular 
classes of people attached to the Rajputs, called Bats 
and Charuns, both of whom constitute themselves safe- 
guards against attack, as being sacred and of celestial 
origin. (See Raj pu tan a.) 

At Cham'paneer is a hill fort and a remarkable temple. 
Dubbooe is an ancient town, with interesting Braminical 
remains. 

The following are the states included in Guzerat. Most 
of them are very small. The tribute is collected by the 
British, who pay the Guicowar (to whom most of the 
petty states are subject) the share that belongs to him. 
" The Guicowar " is the title of the Mahratta chief of 
Katiwar and other dominions of the district of Guzerat, 
who is also the suzerain of the petty states. 

Balasinore (lat. 22° 53'— 23° 17' ; long. 73° 17'— 73° 40' ; 
area, 258 sq. m. ; pop. 19,092.) — A small state on the 
Myhi, near the district of Kaira, held by a Nawab. There 
is a thriving town, well supplied, and surrounded by a 
wall. Distance 1ST. from Bombay, 280 miles. 

Bcmsda (lat. 20° 35'— 21° ; long. 73° 8'— 73° 28' ; area, 



198 



GEOGRAPHY 01' INDIA. 



325 sq. m. ; pop. 19,000).— A small state south of 
the Tapti, and east of Surat. 

Baroda (lat. 21° 46'— 22° 51'; long. 72° 50'— 73° 48'; 
area, 4,399 sq. m. ; pop. 1,710,404). — An important state, 
reaching to the northern extremity of the Gulf of Cam- 
bay, and bounded by the Eivers Nerbudda and Myhi. 
The western extremity of the Yindya range, expanding 
Into the Barria Hills, reaches the northern extremity of 
the state, and gives rise to streams which water it. This 
state is the dominion of the Guicowar, or Guikwar, 
that being the title assumed by the Eaja. Baroda, the 
capital, is near the river Biswamintri. It is a jDlace 
of importance, connected by railway with Bombay, from 
which it is distant 231 miles. The city is large and well 
built, with a population of 140,000. It is crossed by two 
spacious streets, the market-place, in the centre of the 
town, having a square pavilion. The houses are lofty, 
with tiled roofs. The palace of the Guicowar is a plain 
building, with projecting wooden galleries. 

Baubier (area, 120 sq. m. ; pop. 500). 

Cambay (lat. 22° 9'— 22° 41'; long. 72° 20'— 73° 5'; 
area, 500 sq. m. ; pop. 37,000). — A small state at the 
head of the Gulf of Cambay, governed by a !N"awab. 
The ancient city of Cambay is on the north side of the 
estuary of the Myhi river. It is now small and un- 
important, but was formerly a place of great trade. It 
was long celebrated for its manufactures of chintz, silk, 
and gold stuffs ; and though these have failed, it still 
enjoys a celebrity for manufactured articles of agate, 
cornelian, onyx, &c, obtained from a small deposit near 
the Bajpipla Hills, on the banks of the Nerbudda. 
Before being worked, these stones are exposed to the heat 
of the sun for two years or longer- Distance from 
Bombay, 230 miles- 

Char cut (area, 80 sq. m. ; pop. 2,500). 

Chowra (lat. 23° 35'— 23° 56'; long. 70° 53'— 71° IV; 
area, 225 sq. m. ; pop. 2,500). — A very small district, 
forming, during the rainy season, an island in the Rmm of 



WESTERN" INDIA. 



199 



Cutcli. The country is flat, and much salt is found. This 
little state pays no tribute, and is perfectly independent. 

Daung Rajas (lat. 20° 22'— 21° 5'; long. 73° 28'— 
73° 52'; area, 950 sq.m.; pop. 70,300).— A group of petty 
states between Surat and Candeish, tributary to a chief 
styled the Eajah of Daung. The country abounds with 
teak forests. 

Deodar (area, 80 sq. m.; pop. 2,000). 

DuTTuminw (lat. 20° 5'— 20° 24/; long. 72° 55'— 73° 35' ; 
area, 225 sq. m. ; pop. 15,000). — A small state east of 
the southern extremity of Surat, overrun with dense 
forest, and admitting of little cultivation. 

Hursul (see Peint). 

Joivar (area, 300 sq. m. ; pop. 8,000). 

Katiwar (lat. 20° 42'— 23° 10' ; long. 69° 5'— 72° 14'; 
area, 21,000 sq. m. ; pop. 1,500,000). — A province, com- 
prising the peninsula of Guzerat, and including a large 
part of the dominions of the Guicowar, which, however, 
extend to the mainland, both north and east. It is divided 
into ten districts, each subdivided into the separate pos- 
sessions of a host of Hindu chiefs, some of whom are 
tributary to the British Government, others to the Gui- 
cowar. The surface of the country is undulating, with 
low ranges of hills in irregular directions. The land in 
the middle is highest, and here several streams take their 
rise, some of which enter the Hunn of Cutch, others the 
Gulf of Cutch, the Gulf of Cambay, or the Arabian Sea. 
There is a rugged part called the Gir, consisting of a suc- 
cession of ridges and hills covered with forest trees and 
jungle. The highest ground here is about 1,000 feet above 
the sea, and there are caverns, ravines, and other fast- 
nesses, very difficult of access. The water is bad, and 
the climate deadly. Among the wild animals of this part 
are migratory rats of extraordinary size. In the cultivated 
part of the country, millet, maize, and wheat, sugar-cane 
and cotton are grown. The soil is not fertile. Dwarka is 
a town on the western shore of the peninsula, con- 
spicuous from a distance by the great Temple of Kistna, 



200 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



or Dwarkanath, the most celebrated of all the shrines to this 
god. It is one of the most remarkable Hindn shrines in 
India. It consists of (1) the munduff, or hall of congre- 
gation, only 21 feet square internally, bnt five stories high, 
surmounted by a dome whose summit is 75 feet from the 
pavement ; (2) the deraclma, or penetralia ; and (3) the 
sikra or spire, consisting of a series of pyramids, ter- 
minating at 140 feet from the ground. It is a marvellous 
construction. In the island of Beyt or Bet are numerous 
temples and shrines in honour of Kistna. At Puttun 
Somnauth are also remains of a celebrated temple. 

Myhi Gaunta (lat. 23° 14'— 24° 28' ; long. 72° 41'— 
74° 5'; area, 4,000 sq. m. ; pop. 311,046). — A state in the 
north-eastern extremity of the Guzerat territory, border- 
ing on Rajputana. It has several towns ; but, though 
containing considerable populations, they are not of im- 
portance. 

Palunpur States (lat. 23° 57'— 24° 41'; long. 71° 51' 
— 72° 45'; area, 6,041 sq. m. ; pop. 321,645). — A group of 
petty states in the north of Gujerat, watered by several 
streams rising in the hill country towards the north-east, 
and entering the Eunn of Cutch. The principal state is 
Palurvpur (area 1,850 sq. m. ; pop. 130,000). There is 
only one good road through the district, but that is im- 
portant. Pakwvpur is a large town of the same name, 
with 30,000 inhabitants. In Deesa another state is a 
British cantonment. 

Point, with Hursool (lat. 20° 1'— 20° 27'; long. 73° 10' 
— 73° 40'; area, 750 sq. m. ; pop. 55,000). — A small state 
between the Northern Concan and Ahmednuggur. There 
are two small towns, Peint and Hursul. 

Radunpur (lat. 23° 26' — 23° 58'; long. 71° 28' — 
72° 3'; area, 850 sq. m.; pop. 45,000).— A small state 
traversed by the Bunass river, in the north-western corner 
of Guzerat. It is close to the B/unn of Cutch, and yields 
much salt. The heat is excessive during summer ; but from 
December to April the climate is delightful. The chief 
town is of considerable size, with a population of 15,000, 



WESTERN INDIA. 



201 



Seogaum (area, 64 sq. m. ; pop. 4,500). 

Suclvm (area, 300 sq. hi.; pop. 22,000). — A small 
territory within the collect orate of Surat. The town is 
ten miles SE. of Surat city. 

Thurwarra (area, 48 sq. m. ; pop. 800) ; Thurrand (area, 
600 sq. m. ; pop. 23,000) ; Warye (area, 299 sq. m. ; pop. 
29,000); Wow (area, 324 sq. m. ; pop. 71,000).— Petty 
independent states, on the north-western frontier of 
Guzerat, bordering on the Runn of Cutch, and north of 
the Bunass river. JSTone are of importance in any poli- 
tical sense. 

Wusravi (lat. 20° 55'— 21° 33'; long. 72° 46'— 73° 51'; 
area, 450 sq. m. ; pop. 33,300). — This is a native Bheel 
state, on the Tapti, between Broach and Candeish. It 
is of small importance. 

Kyrpur (lat. 26° 3'— 27° 48'; long. 68° 10 r — 70° 12'; 
area, 5,000 sq. m. ; pop. 105,000). — This is an independent 
native state, governed by an Ameer. It is almost enclosed 
by the northern part of Sind, and borders on the state 
of Bawalpnr (see p. 125). The country resembles Sind* 
being alluvial land, with a clay soil, largely mixed with 
sand. The wells are brackish, and water for irrigation 
and drinking is procured by a canal from the Indus. The 
town is little more than a collection of mud hovels, with a 
few houses of better construction. The palace is among 
the bazaars. The town is very filthy and unhealthy; 
the population 15,000. It is 13 miles SY> r . of Eori. 

Eewa Caunta (lat. 21° 23'— 23° 33'; long. 73° 3'— 
74° 18'; area, 8,736 sq. m. ; pop. 350,000).— A group of 
states in the eastern part of Guzerat, comprising : — 

Baria (area, 870 sq. m. ; pop. 64,380). 

Ghota Oudeypur, or Mohun (area, 3,000 sq. m. ; pop*, 
78,366). 

Lunawarra (area, 1,736 sq. m. ; pop. 37,000). 
Eajpipla (area, 4,500 sq. m. ; pop. 122,100). — A flourish- 
ing agricultural state, well watered, and haviag two 



202 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



towns. Nandode is the capital. There are celebrated 
cornelian mines in the state, bnt they are not now 
worked. The stones were cut at Cambay. 

Soauth, or Saunte (area,. 900 sq. m. ; pop. 31,450). — A 
country difficult to penetrate. There is a strong fort 
near the town, crowning a high rocky hill. The state is 
sometimes called Soaiith Ramyur. 

4. Native States South oe Bombay. 

Jinjira (lat. 18°— 18° 32'; long. 72° 55' — 73° 15'; 
area, 324 sq. m. ; pop. 71,000). — A small principality, 
sometimes called the Hubshis, or Hubsies, on the 
coast of the Arabian Sea, a little south of Bombay, 
between the Northern and Southern Ccncan. There is a 
natural harbour of considerable extent, dividing the state 
in two parts, and a stream, terminating in an estftary, 
separates it from the British territory on the north. The 
harbour is excellent, with four or five fathoms' water 
everywhere, and shelter from all winds. Off the main- 
land is the fortified island of Jinjira, on the southern 
side of the harbour entrance ; and the town of Majwpur is 
opposite, on the north side. This place was formerly very 
important in connection with the pilgrimage to Mecca. 

Kolapur (lat, 15° 58'— 17° VT\ long. 73° 47'— 74° 46'; 
area, 3,445 sq. m. ; pop. 500,000). — A raj, or state, within 
the Deccan, consisting of a tract, on the eastern side of the 
Ghats, commencing with the culminating ridge beyond 
the Southern Concan, and sloping, with a rugged surface, 
towards the plateau of Kuladgi and Belgaum. There 
are several streams crossing it, all running towards the 
east, most of them mountain torrents, tributaries to the 
Kistna. The Ghats, in the western part of the states, are 
from 3,000 to 4,000 feet high. The rocks are chiefly volcanic. 
The population consists of Mahrattas and Bamuses, the 
latter resembling the Bheel tribes, already described. The 
government is carried on by a Bajah, subject to British 
authority. The town of Kolapur is a secluded spot, 



WESTERN INDIA. 



203 



formerly very crowded and unhealthy, but now much im- 
proved, and supplied with water. Distance SE. from 
Bombay, 185 miles. 

Sattara Jaghires. — A number of small states, within 
and adjoining the British district of Sattara. They are 
! Akulcote (area, 986 sq. m. ; pop. 77,339). Duflay (area, 
700 sq. m.; pop. 58,794); the most northerly. Bore is 
the town. Nimbalhur (area, 400 sq. m. ; pop. 47,100). 
PhvMun is the town. Punt Prithi NidM (area, 400 
sq. m. ; pop. 67,967). Punt Bucheo (500 sq. m. ; pop. 
110,193). The WaeJcur. None of them possess any 
special interest. 

Sawunt Warri (lat. 15° 38'— 16° 15'; long. 73° 40'— 
74° 22'; area, 900 sq. m.; pop. 152,206).— A small state, 
forming part of the tract called the Concan, or the land 
between the Ghats and the sea, and situated between the 
district of the Southern Concan and the Portugese terri- 
tory of Goa. It approaches, but does not reach, the coast. 
Its surface, reaching beyond the watershed of the Ghats, 
is rugged and broken, interspersed with mountains and 
dense jungle, intersected by small rivers and rivulets, 
which, at first torrents, gradually become streams of a 
more regular nature as they approach the coast. The 
monsoon rains on the higher land and summit of the 
Ghats are extremely heavy, approaching 300 inches in the 
year. , Tigers, leopards, hyasnas, and other wild animals 
of prey reach even the more fertile tracts, which are 
covered with luxuriant vegetation. Snakes and other 
reptiles abound on land, and alligators in the water and 
swamps. The soil is light and stony, but yields large 
crops of rice and jowar, besides wheat, gram, and esculent 
vegetables in the cooler season. There is a military road 
through the territory, and several native roads. The terri- 
tories are governed by a Mahratta chief, named Sur 
Dessayee, subject to British authority. There is a small 
town (Saivunt Warri) twenty-two miles E. by "N. of 
Yingorla. 



204 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Southern Mahratta Jaghires— A group of small 
states in the South Mahratta country, south of Sattara. 
They consist of Bawa, with the town of Meeruj ; the 
Gorepuray of Mudhole; NepaniJcur ; and Putivudun. 
The total area is 3,700 square miles, and the population 
410,470. 

5. Portuguese Possessions. 

The Portuguese possessions in India, formerly very 
extensive and important, are now reduced to the district 
of Goa and the towns of Daman and Diu, each with small 
adjacent territories. 

Daman is on the coast between Surat and the 
Northern Concan. It is included within the Presidency 
of Bombay, and is eighty-two miles from the city of 
Bombay. It is a small fortified seaport town, on the 
Biver Damangunga, which rises in the Concan, about 
forty miles east. There are roads outside the bar, in 
which vessels can anchor in eight fathoms' water, and 
though the river has a bar, there is never less than three 
fathoms' water at ordinary spring tides. There are docks, 
and many ships are built here. The surrounding country 
is fruitful and pleasant, except in the rainy season, when 
it is inundated. The water is not good, either in the 
river or from wells. The territory attached to Daman 
is about ten miles in length from north to south, and five 
in breadth. Daman was taken by the Portuguese in 
1531. Distance ~N. from Bombay, 101 miles. 

Dili is a small seaport town on the peninsula of Kati- 
war, acquired by the Portuguese in 1515. It is at the 
eastern extremity of an island seven miles long and less 
than two miles broad. There is a small well sheltered 
bay, with good anchorage. The town is well fortified, 
and is supplied with food from the mainland, the island 
not being very productive. The place is falling into 
decay. Distance NW. from Bombay, 170 miles. 



WESTERN INDIA. 



205 



Goa (lat. 14° 54'— 15° 45'; long. 73° 45'— 74° 26'; area, 
1,066 sq. m.; pop. 350,000) .—The only district of any 
magnitude remaining to Portugal of her former large 
possessions in India. It is about forty miles in length, 
and twenty in breadth, well watered, fertile, well cul- 
tivated in most places, and producing rice, pepper, cocoa- 
nuts, betel, and salt; but the quantity of rice is not 
sufficient to feed the inhabitants. The chief city of the 
district is also Go a, which has a fine harbour, almost 
equal to that of Bombay. The old town contains many 
good buildings, churches, and monasteries, but is a mass 
of deserted ruins ; and the new town, near the harbour, is 
low and miserably built. The people are descendants of 
the Portuguese. 

6. Aden. 

The territory of Aden, though not properly belonging 
to India, is now subject to the Bombay Presidency, and 
is of some importance to the Indian Empire, being a 
military port of great strength, a depot for coals, and an 
entrepot for extensive commerce. It is situated on the 
high road to India, at the extremity of the Eed Sea, on 
the coast of Arabia Felix, in the Province of Yemen. 
Lat. 12° 45' K ; long. 45° 3' E. Its harbour is the finest 
in Arabia. The whole place is a peninsula connected 
with the main land by a sandbank covered at high tides. 
It is an extinct volcanic crater, one side being open to 
the sea. The town is surrounded by an amphitheatre of 
lofty mountains. 



CHAPTER VI. 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions— General Account — Madras — lj 
Madras Collectorates. Arcot (North and South) Districts — 
Bellary District — Canara (South) District — Coimbatore 
District — Cuddapa District — Gran jam District — Godavery 
District — Kistna District — Kurnul District — Madras 
District — Madura District — Malabar District — Nell ore Dis- 
trict — Salem District— Tan j ore District — Tinnevelly District 

— Trichinopoly District — Yizigapatam District. 2. My- 
sore and Coorg. 3. Native States. Bunganapilly— Cochin 

— Puducottah — Sundur — Travancore. 4. French Posses- 
sions. Chandanagore — Carical — Mahi — Pondicherry — Ya - 
naon. 5. Ceylon. 

Boundaries and Subdivisions. — This division includes 
the whole of the mainland of India south of the Nizam's 
dominions, and the Bombay Presidency, with a consider- 
able extension along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, 
known as the Northern Oircars, reaching the Chilka 
Lake, and shnt in by the Central Provinces. Omitting 
this extension (which consists of a narrow strip of coast, 
called the G-olconda and Orissa coast, whose width is 
nowhere more than eighty miles), it is a compact terri- 
tory, of triangular shape, reaching from the 16th to the 
8th parallel of latitude. It includes, also, the island 
of Ceylon. The total area is 204,162 square miles, 
and the population about thirty-two millions. Its ex- 
treme width towards the north is about 300 miles. It 
has a very extended coast line, partly on the west, partly 
on the south, and partly on the east coast, amounting in 
all to nearly 2,000 miles, exclusive of Ceylon. The number 



SOUTREKX WBI&. 



207 



of good harbours is small, but there are no less than 144 
places at which cargo is received and discharged. 

Besides the mainland, this part of India includes the 
large and important island of Ceylon, which, however, 
has always been held by Great Britain as a colony, and 
not as a dependency. The whole of Southern India may 
be thus subdivided, — 



General Account. — Southern India consists chiefly of 
a large tract of plateau, or table-land, greatly elevated 
on the western side, at the foot of the eastern escarpment 
of the Western Ghats, and also to the south, where the 
mountains cross the peninsula. This plateau slopes gra- 
dually to the east and north. In the southern and prin- 
cipal part it includes, also, the ridges of the Western 
Ghats, and their steep slope towards the Arabian Sea on 
the west, and throughout it includes the chain of the 
Eastern Ghats. The Heilgherry mountains, and the high 
lands in the southern extremity of the peninsula, render 
the whole broken and mountainous. It is crossed by 
many rivers, none of them very large, but several of con- 
siderable importance. The lower part of the course and 
the deltas of the Godavery and the Kistna, and many 
tributaries of the Kistna, the whole of the Cauvery and 
its tributaries, and the whole of the Pennar, the Palar, 
and many smaller streams, afford abundant opportunities 
for supplying water for irrigation, without which India 
would be a desert. 

The climate of Southern India is greatly influenced by 
the comparative narrowness of the land, the mountainous 
character of the coasts, and the direction taken by the 
monsoon winds. This part of the peninsula is exposed to 



Area in sq. miles. 



1. Madras Collectorates (British) 

2. Mysore and Coorg . 

3. Native States 

4. French Possessions 

5. Ceylon (British colony) 



. 140,890 
. 29,119 
. 9,466 
87 

. 24,600 



-208 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



the full force both of the north-west and south-east mon- 
soons; but much more rain falls on the western side, 
where the Ghats are highest, than on the east coast. 
Some districts, no doubt, such as Coimbatore and Mysore, 
share in the rain brought by both monsoons ; but gene- 
rally the interior of the country is dry, and those parts 
far removed from the sea, as Bellary, get exceedingly little 
rain. In point of temperature, the Madras Presidency is 
the hottest part of India. On the Malabar coast, where 
the atmosphere is moist, the temperature is seldom lower 
than 68°, or higher than 88°, the mean being 78°. On 
the Coromandel coast, however, the mean is 84°, rising 
occasionally to more than 100°. Previous to the rains 
the country is everywhere parched, and life is endured 
with difficulty. This happens in May, June, and July. 
In August the heat, dust, and glare are somewhat modi- 
fied by occasional heavy thunder-storms. The great rains 
fall about the end of October, and then in a few clays the 
surface of the whole country is changed, as if by magic, 
from a naked expanse to a sheet of the most varied and 
luxuriant verdure. Along the coast the sea breezes, which 
set in shortly after noon almost throughout the year, do 
much to moderate the temperature. 

The people are of many races, but Hindu and Maho- 
medan races greatly prevail. By far the greater number 
profess the Hindu religion, and Bramins are more 
numerous than elsewhere in India. The languages 
spoken are Telugu. Tamil, Canarese, and Malayalma, 
besides Urdu and English, which are used eveiywhere. 
The education of the people is rapidly extending, the 
number of schools under inspection in 1866 having been 
nearly 1,400, and the number of pupils attending them 
more than 50,000. These are in addition to village schools 
under native management. 

The internal communication by roads is very complete 
in the Madras Presidency. The roads are in excellent 
order, and at intervals of ten or twelve miles are places of 
shelter for travellers. The streams are crossed by bridges. 



SOUTHERN INDIA, 



209 



The rivers of Southern India are but little navigable, and 
afford no assistance to communication. The canals, though 
not on such a large scale as in the Bengal Presidency, and 
chiefly connected with irrigation works, include some con- 
necting the lagoons on the coast, that assist in carrying 
on an extensive traffic in a very convenient manner. The 
extent of telegraph line is large and increasing. In 1866 
it exceeded 1,500 miles. 

The railway system of India is already well advanced 
in the South. From Madras, the Madras Eailway is open 
towards the north-west as far as Bellary, and the branch 
of the Great Indian Peninsula line, now open from 
Bombay to Kulburga, in Hydrabad, will before long 
be completed to meet the Madras Eailway. The main 
line of the Madras Eailway crosses the peninsula 
towards the south-west to Beypur, near Calicut, on the 
Malabar coast, with branches to Bangalore (in M}^sore) 
and Negapatam, on the Gulf of Manar, opposite Ceylon 
(see p. 40). 

In no part of India is the system of irrigation more 
necessary than in the South, and, on the whole, it is effec- 
tually carried out by the agency of the rivers. The Goda- 
very and the Kistna have been more especially employed 
for this purpose, by means of a system of dams and dis- 
tributing canals. The works on the former river were 
commenced in 1847, and on the latter in 1851. They are 
now completed, and have not only secured the irrigation, 
but have rendered great assistance to the internal navi- 
gation of the country. In the year 1859, a guarantee of 
interest on the capital invested was given to a company 
for the purpose of constructing works of irrigation in the 
Madras Presidency. 

The Presidency of Madras is divided into five parts. 
These are subdivided into twenty districts (including 
Madras city), under the regulation system, and two uon- 
regulation districts (Ganjam and Vizagapatam). 

Madras, the capital of the Presidency, and the seat of 
British government in Southern India, is a town of 



210 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



about 450,000 inhabitants, on the Coromandel coast, in 
lat. 13° 5' 1ST., long. 80° 16' E. Its situation is naturally 
very disadvantageous for commerce, as during two 
months in the year ["(November and December) there is no 
communication possible between large ships and the shore. 
Ordinary European boats can never approach the shore 
with safety, and landing in the native craft through the 
heavy surf is never without risk, which is increased by the 
multitudes of sharks always ready to devour any unfortu- 
nate victims. There is now a well constructed pier, and 
the communication is much ^better ; but ships are still 
obliged to anchor under very unfavourable circimistances. 
The first view of Madras is striking, as many of the pub- 
lic buildings extend in a line fronting the sea, immediately 
opposite the landing-place. Behind these buildings are 
trees, which relieve the white stucco with which the build- 
ings are faced. The beach is studded with houses of busi- 
ness. On one side is the black town, partly concealed by 
plantations ; on the other Eort St. George, having the ap- 
pearance of a fort, but overtopped by many lofty struc- 
tures, connected with business, that rise within it. The 
extreme length is nearly four miles, the average breadth 
two and a quarter miles ; but a large portion of the area 
is occupied by gardens and enclosures, the buildings being 
rather thinly scattered. There is a cathedral and many 
English churches, a college, barrack, and hospitals. Madras 
is altogether a modern town, built on a piece of land 
obtained by the English in 1639. This ground was ori- 
ginally the site only of the fort, but the town has grown 
around it. The trade of Madras is considerable, and it 
now enjoys direct railway communication to various places 
in the interior, of the peninsula and to the western coast. 
Steamers leave regularly for almost every principal port 
in India ; and there is great trade with Britain, Calcutta, 
Burma, the Straits, America, and the Mauritius. The 
chief exports are cotton, indigo, oil-seeds, coffee, sugar, rice, 
and coloured handkerchiefs. Distance from Calcutta, 885 
miles ; from Bombay, 640 miles. 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



211 



1. Madras Collectorates. 

Arcot, North (lat. 12° 22'— 14° 11'; long. 78° 17'— 
80° 12'; area, 7,526 sq. m.; pop. 1,500,000).— A district 
forming part of the slope from the Eastern Ghats towards 
the sea. The western portion, reaching the watershed, is 
broken into isolated ranges of hills of moderate elevation, 
bnt towards the east it becomes low and fiat. In the 
northern part of the district, the Waggery Hills are pro- 
minently seen from a distance at sea. Several streams 
cross it during the rainy season, bnt they are all dry the 
rest of the year. The soil on the plains is sandy, mixed 
with clay and gravel, and is extensively cultivated with rice 
and other grain crops. Even on the mountains there are 
fertile tracts. Reservoirs for keeping back the water are 
very numerous, and the dimensions of some are extreme. 
That of Cauvery pak is eight miles long and three broad, 
retaining the waters of the Cauvery. Some of these 
reservoirs feed irrigation canals, and others navigable 
canals. The town of Arcot is on the right side of the 
river Palar, the largest of those that cross the district, 
and on the line of railway from Madras to Beypur. 
It was formerly the capital of the Carnatic,* under 



* The division of Southern India thus named is not very accu- 
rately defined. It is generally understood to mean the whole of 
the district on the east side of the Western Ghats, from about 
the sixteenth parallel of latitude southwards to Cape Comorin. 
It was the ancient Hindu kingdom "Carnata," in which the 
Ganara language was spoken. The district is historic, as it was 
long the seat of the war for empire in the East between the 
English and the French. Up to the end of the last century 
there was a Nawab of the Carnatic, who enjoyed actual power. 
His successors held the title, without the power, till 1855, when 
the last of them died. The dynasty was Mahomedan. Some 
writers have recognized a division into Northern, Central, and 
Southern Carnatic. 

14 * 



212 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Mahomedan rule. It is a large improving town, well 
supplied with water, and provided with an extensive 
barrack. There are the remains of the old fort of the 
Nawab's palace, and of some mosques. The fort was 
taken and held by Clive, in 1751, under circumstances 
of extraordinary bravery and talent. Distance W. from 
Madras, sixty-five miles. Ami is another town, with a 
British cantonment, celebrated in Indian history. It 
was formerly a strong fortress. Chittore is considered the 
capital, but is not remarkable. It is eighty miles "W. of 
Madras, and 1,100 feet above the sea. Tripetty, fifty-one 
miles ET. by E. of Arcot, has a remarkable Hindu 
temple. Vellore is an important town, with a strong 
fort on the right side of the river Palar. It has also 
a splendid pagoda, dedicated to Kistna. There is a 
population of about 50,000. The town is clean and 
airy, and has an extensive bazaar. The fort is very 
large. The place is hot, but healthy. Distance W. from 
Madras, seventy-nine miles. 

Arcot, South (lat. 11° ll'— 12° 39'; long. 78° 42'— 
80° 4' ; area, 4,933 sq. m. ; pop. above a million). — Like 
l^orth Arcot, it consists of part of the slope from the 
Eastern Ghats to the Bay of Bengal. It is hilly towards 
the interior, but flat near the coast, and is crossed by 
several streams, all of which are dry in summer, except 
the Coleroon, the southern boundary, which is always 
abundantly supplied and made useful for irrigation. The 
climate is moderate and equable, and less subject than 
in other districts to the storms generally common on the 
Coromandel coast. In summer, however, the dryness of 
the air is excessive. The French settlement of Fondicliernj 
{see p. 239) is within this collectorate. The chief place is 
Cuddalore, on the estuary of the South Pennar. It has 
a small harbour and pier. The town is low, but not un- 
healthy ; there are broad regular streets and good houses. 
Distance S. from Madras, 100 miles. Fort St David, 
once the capital of the British possessions on the Coro- 



SOUTHERN IJS T DI<i. 



213 



mandel coast, is three miles south. It was formerly 
called Tegnajpatam, and was destroyed by the French in 
1758. Gingi, eighty-two miles SW. of Madras, is a hill- 
fortress of some strength. 

Bellary (lat. 13° 40'— 15° 58'; long. 75° 44'— 78° 19'; 
area, 11,351 sq. m. ; pop. 1,250,000). — A very large dis- 
trict in the interior of the Presidency, bounded on the 
north by the Nizam's territory, and on the south by 
Mysore. It is altogether a highland, the most elevated 
part being to the west, where it approaches or reaches 
the Western Ghats ; and to the south, towards the 
Mysore plateau. It is crossed by several streams, all 
entering the Bay of Bengal. The climate is exceedingly 
dry — more so, in fact, than in any part of India. The soil 
is very fertile. A distinguishing feature of the district is 
the large number of dark- coloured granite rocks that 
start up abruptly from the ground in the most fantastic 
shapes. The town of Bellary (pop. 35,000) is the head- 
quarters of the ceded districts. It consists of a fortified 
rock, several forts, and the native town. It is 1,600 feet 
above the sea; distance NW. from Madras, 270 miles. 
Adoni, or Adivanni, near the north-western frontier, is 
one of the hill-forts, of considerable extent. Gooty is a 
cluster of fortified hills, nearly surrounding a native 
town. The town is nearly 1,000 feet above the plain, 
and more than 2,000 feet above the sea. The popula- 
tion is under 5,000. Bellary is one of the districts ceded 
by the Nizam in the year 1800. 

Canara, South (lat. 12° 11'— 13° 39'; long. 74° 45'— 
75° 42'; area, 3,480 sq. m. ; pop. about 500,000).— A 
narrow strip of hilly and very fertile country, with more 
than 100 miles of sea-coast, and only one seaport (Man- 
galore), forming the northernmost district of the Madras 
Presidency, on the west or Malabar coast. The population 
is very varied, including Bramins, Nairs, Moplay s, J ains, 
Gorars, and Christians: Jains are especially numerous. 



214 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

There are many small inlets on the coast, that afford 
shelter for small fishing-boats. Mangalore is the chief 
town. It is built on the north side of an estuary; bnt 
there is a sand-bank at the entrance, greatly detracting 
from the value of the place as a harbour. The town is 
large, but the houses are mean, and there are no public 
buildings of importance. Teak and sandal wood are 
shipped from Mangalore. The sandal wood is from the 
Mysore Hills. Near the town, to the north, is a valuable 
deposit of porcelain clay, of the finest kind. Population 
about 12,000. Distance SE. from Bombay, 440 miles; 
W. from Madras, 370 miles. 

Coimbatore (lat, 10° 14/— 12° 19/ ; long. 76° 36'— 
78° 16'; area, 8,099 sq. m.; pop. 1,250,000).— A district 
in the interior of Southern India, bounded on the north 
by Mysore, and on the south by Madura and Travancore. 
The general physical aspect is that of a great recess- 
opening to the east. It is on the whole level, the eleva- 
tion of the plain where it touches the "Western Ghats 
being 850 feet. Through the gap or recess opening to 
the east runs the railway (Madras to Beypur), and also a 
stream carrying off the rains of the monsoons. All the 
hills, except where cultivated, are thickly covered with 
forest, abounding in teak and other valuable timber, and 
frequented by elephants, tigers, cheetahs, and other wild 
animals. In the western part of the district rise the 
Neilgherry Hills,* which, from their central position, their 



* These mountains (see p. 8) form a triangular mountain 
mass, covering an area of about 600 square miles. The north 
side is connected with the table -land of Mysore, by a neck of 
high land, about fifteen miles wide. The mass is otherwise 
detached. From Coimbatore, the mountains rise in a vast preci- 
pitous mass to the height of 5,000 to 7,000 feet. There is no 
natural lake, but a large reservoir has been constructed by em- 
bankment in the vicinity of Ootacamund. The Neilgherries are 



SOTTHE&N mmJL. 



great elevation, and the evenness of their seasons, have 
become the resort of Europeans from all parts of India. 
Coffee, tea, cinchona, and many European fruits and 
vegetables are grown on the hills ; while cotton, tobacco, 
grain, millet, and the castor-oil plant are cultivated in the 
plains. Iron ore, beryl, and saltpetre are obtained in 
large quantity. The only important manufacture is that 
of cotton cloths. The town of Co imb afore is at the foot 
of the Neilgherries, on the left bank of a small tributary 
of the Cauvery. It is well built, with clean wide streets, 
and well ventilated, but has indifferent water. It is 
1,483 feet above the sea; but the railway from Madras 
to Beypur passes it. Distance ST7. from Madras, 266 
miles. There is a reservoir next it, forming a large 
lake during the rains. Bowani-hudal, at the confluence 
of the Bowani and Cauvery, has two very celebrated 
temples. Dara-purarn is a well-built town, with good 
streets, 42 miles SE. of Coimbatore. 

Cuddapa (lat. 13° 12'— 16° 19'; long. 77° 52'— 79° 48'; 
area, 9,140 sq. m. ; pop. 1,000,000). — A large district in 
the interior, adjoining Mysore, consisting of extensive 
plains, sloping from nearly 1,200 feet above the sea in the 
west, to above 500 feet in the east. The mountains of 
the Eastern Ghats rise in numerous parallel and con- 
tinuous ridges abruptly from these plains. ISTumerous 
streams and watercourses cross the plains, and unite to 
form the river Pennar, a considerable stream, which breaks 



not densely wooded, but are crowded with animal life. The 
human population, though scanty, includes five distinct races, 
Erulars and Kururnbars — savages like the Bheels ; Kotars, 
a very peculiar race, exercising certain handicrafts, and not 
admitting caste : Burghers, the wealthiest and most civilized 
(they are Brahminists) ; and the Todars, or Toruicars, who hold 
sacred offices. There are six passes into the Neilgherries. Coffee 
has been very extensively cultivated in the Neilgherries for some 
years past, and is now an important crop. 



216 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



through the Eastern Ghats, and enters the Bay of Ben- 
gal a little below Nellore. - The soil is fertile, much of 
it consisting of the well-known regur, or black cotton 
ground. Besides cotton, rice, tobacco, oil-seeds, carda- 
moms, indigo, and sugar-cane are extensively cultivated. 
Mango, tamarind, plantain, and water-melon are among 
the most common fruits. Guava, peach, lime, citron, 
pomegranate, and grapes are less common. The chief 
manufactures are cotton goods, coarse woollens, the pre- 
paration of indigo, working in metals, and pottery. The 
soil contains much soda, salt, and saltpetre. The district 
is traversed by a railway, and there are good ordinary 
roads. The town of Cuddajpa is built on a slope near 
the banks of the Pennar, and is well built and healthy. 
A large military force is stationed there, and the railway 
passes close to the town. Distance from Madras NW., 
139 miles. Rachuti, on a tributary of the Pennar, 30 
miles S. of Ouddapah, is another town. The district of 
Cuddapa is one of those ceded by the Nizam in the year 
1800. 

Ganjam* (lat. 18° 13'— 19° 52'; long. 83° 50 ; — 85° 15'; 
area, 7,657 sq. m. ; pop. 1,000,000). — The most northerly 
district of the Madras Presidency. It is almost surrounded 
by the ancient territory of Orissa (see p. 49), and has a 
long line of coast commencing with part of the lagoon 
called Chilka 9 f where it touches the province of Cuttack, 
in the Presidency of Bengal. The coast is bold and rocky, 
dying away towards the north, where the sandy plain 
occupied by the lagoon commences. The district is the 



* Ganjam and Vizagapatam are the non-regulation districts. 

■J The Chilka lake has been already alluded to in the description 
of lakes (see p. 20). It is saline, and everywhere very shallow, 
not more than six feet in the deepest part. It contains several 
inhabited islands, and is separated from the sea only by a narrow 
strip of sand. Excellent salt is made from it by evaporation. The 
Hindoo word for lake is jhil. Hence the name Chilka, or jhil-Jca. 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



217 



northernmost part of what is called the Circars * The 
surface of the country is undulating, rising towards the 
west into hills covered with jungle, and containing the 
sources of various streams which water the plains. The 
level country is extremely fertile, yielding rice, sugar-cane, 
maize, millet, oil-seeds, cotton, &c, in great abundance. 
The hilly ground yields wax, lac, gums, dye-stuffs, arrow- 
root, and much timber and valuable ornamental wood. 
The inhabitants of the hills are Konds. CMcacole is 
the chief town, straggling and irregularly built with 
crooked narrow streets, overflowed in rainy weather. It is 
noted for its muslins. Population, 50,000. Distance SW, 
from Calcutta, 415 miles; NE. from Madras, 435 miles- 
BerJieimpur is a large town and cantonment, with a popu- 
lation of 20,000. The streets are narrow, dirty, and 
mean; but there are good bazaars. Silk and cotton 
cloths, sugar and sugar-candy, are manufactured on a large 
scale. The town is on a plain, surrounded by hills at a 
distance of a few miles. It has a tolerable climate. Dis- 
tance SE. from Ganjam, twenty miles. C aline/ apatam and 
Gojpauljpur are rising seaports. Ganjam, near the Bay of 
Bengal, was formerly remarkable for its fine buildings, but 
is now much decayed, the place having been abandoned in 
favour of Chicacole in consequence of a fever. It has some 
trade, but has not recovered its former condition. Dis- 
tance NE. from Madras, 536 miles. Gumsur is forty- 
three miles NW. of Ganjam. Till taken possession of by 
the English, it was the scene of occasional human sacrifices 
among the Konds. Around it is an extensive forest, 
abounding in valuable timber. Russelkonda is a modern 
town, with cantonment, fifty miles of Ganjam, at the 
foot of a low hill not far from the coast. Except during 
March, April, and May, the climate is pleasant. 



* The districts of Ganjam, Godavery, Kistna, and Yizagapa- 
tam were formerly known as the Northern Circars. They -were 
obtained by the French in 1753, seized by Clive in 1759, and 
formally ceded to the English, by the Emperor of Delhi, in 1765. 



218 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



Godavery flat. 16° 19'— 17° 21'; long. 80° 56'— 82° 20' ; 
area, 7,533 sq. m. ; pop. 6,000,000). — This district is low 
and flat near the coast, bnt hilly towards the north and 
north-east. It includes the delta of the Godavery, and 
some extent of country beyond. It is exceedingly fertile, 
yielding rice, maize, millet, sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, and 
tobacco, in large quantities, both for home use and expor- 
tation. The navigation along the coast is dangerous, 
owing to shoals and shifting sands, but there is one good 
port, Coring a, at the mouth of an estuary. It is a place of 
considerable trade, and well situated for building and re- 
pairing small vessels. The lake Colair (fresh-water) is 
partly in this district, and partly in Kistna. It is twenty- 
five miles long and ten miles across, and contains many 
islands. The Godavery has been adapted to irrigate the 
low lands near its mouth by the construction of a dam. 
There are many towns in this district. Coringa, on a 
branch of the Godavery, is a place of considerable trade, 
and is convenient for repairing small vessels. It is, how- 
ever, liable to be inundated in the rise of the river after 
heavy gales. Distance NE. from Madras, 290 miles ; 
SW. from Calcutta, 562 miles. Ellore is a well built 
populous town, on a stream which falls into the Colair 
lake a few miles below. It is forty miles ET. of Masuli- 
patam. It has carpet manufactures. Madajoollam is 
famous for its cotton fabrics. Nursiimr is at the mouth 
of the southernmost of the main branches of the Go- 
davery, and is a rising town and port. Eajamundry, the 
capital, is on high ground on the left bank of the Go- 
davery. The town consists of one principal street, about 
half a mile long, and a number of mean ill built cross 
streets. There is a fort a little outside the town. The 
population is large, amounting to 20,000. Distance NTS. 
from Madras, 285 miles. Yandon, a French settlement, is 
in this district (see p. 239). 



Kistna (lat, 15° 45'— 17° 10'; long. 79° 15'— 81° 40': 
area, 8,353 sq. m. ; pop. 1,000,000). — A district near the 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



219 



Coromandel coast, including the delta of the river so 
called. ISTear the coast, and for some distance inland, the 
land is very low, and in some places below the level of 
the sea, but westwards it rises into hills of considerable 
elevation, attaining their greatest height near the town of 
Oondapillj. The Kistna is rendered available for irriga- 
tion by a system of dams and canals. The vegetable 
productions are rice, cholam, oil- seeds, turmeric, betel, 
tobacco, and cotton. Salt is made along the coast ; cotton 
goods are manufactured to some extent ; and iron is 
worked in the hills. Masulvpatam, or Bunder, the chief 
town, is built on the north side of a branch of the 
Kistna, on the Golconda coast. It is built on an exten- 
sive plain, marshy and unhealthy, and there is no good 
water. The houses are large, and the place is clean. Its 
manufactures are printed cotton goods and snuff. Popu- 
lation 28,000. Distance K from Madras, 215 miles. The 
town has been rebuilt since 1864, when it was destroyed 
by a wave produced during a violent storm on the coast. 
Guntur is a large town. Gondwpilly and Vinukonda are 
hill-forts. 

Kurnul (lat. 14° 55'— 16° 15'; long. 77° 47—79° 15'; 
area, 7,984 sq. m.; pop. 1,000,000).— A long strip of 
country, on the south or right bank of the Kistna, which , 
separates it from Mysore. It is entirely inland, and is 
hilly almost throughout, the hills producing teak and 
other valuable woods. Owing to its position, it receives 
but little rain from either monsoon, and would suffer 
much from drought but for an extensive system of irriga- 
tion works in the neighbourhood of the chief town. The 
town of Kurnul has a population of 20,000. There are 
other small towns. Kurnul is one of the districts ceded 
by the Mzam in the year 1800. 

Madras (lat. 12° 15'— 13° 41'; long. 79° 35'— 80° 20'; 
area, 3,010 sq. m.; pop. 500,000).— This district, with the 
exception of a few rocky hills, is everywhere flat, and the 



220 



GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 



soil, when well watered, is fertile. There are few streams, 
the water supply for irrigation during dry weather being 
stored in reservoirs, of which there are great numbers, 
some of them being of large dimensions. Rice, gram, 
and other grains, sugar-cane, and betel, are grown to 
some extent. 

Madras, the capital of the Presidency, has been already 
described (see p. 210), but the following towns are also 
within the district: Ghingleput, a large town and for- 
tress on the Palar, thirty-six miles SW. of Madras, in a 
valley, the upper part of which contains a reservoir two 
miles in length. The fort is large, and the town, which 
consists of one long street, not very interesting. It is 
not unhealthy. Conjeveram is a Bramin town, with 
some celebrated pagodas, much frequented by pilgrims. 
Distance SW. from Madras, forty-two miles. Mahabali- 
pur am, a town on the coast, thirty- three miles S. of 
Madras, built in honour of the god Bala, Here are 
extraordinary rock temples, covered with sculptures. 
Fulicat is a town on an island in the extensive lagoon 
called the Lake of Pulicat. The lake is thirty-three 
miles long from north to south, and eleven miles wide, 
where widest. The town is twenty-two miles north of 
Madras. It is chiefly inhabited by fishermen, who belong 
to a mixed Hindu and Mahomedan race called Lubbays, 
met with all along the Coromandel coast. Sadras, a 
large, but poor town, once a Dutch settlement, on the 
Coromandel coast, 42 miles S. of Madras. Three or four 
miles inland are the Sadras Hills. Punamali is a station 
for British troops, 13 miles WSW. of Madras. 

Madura (lat. 9° 5'— 10° 51/; long. 77° 15'— 79° 15'; 
area, 8,716 sq. m.; pop. 2,000,000).— A district in the 
south-eastern part of the peninsula, opposite Ceylon. 
Its coast forms part of Palk's Straits to the north, and 
the Gulf of Manar to the south, between which are the 
low lands and narrow channels that connect Ceylon with 
the mainland. The northern part of the district is rocky 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



221 



and hilly ; the southern part, an extensive plain, without 
a hill or conspicuous eminence. The north-western part 
forms the Pulnai mountains, or Vurragerry hills, and 
are the resort of invalids. There are streams, but no 
important rivers, crossing the district. The principal is 
the Vyga, and most of the others are dry in the dry 
season. The climate of the hills is mild and genial, 
seldom below 50° or above 75°. In the plains there is 
great dryness and heat. Although there is rain with 
both monsoons, the country sometimes suffers from 
drought. The soil near the sea is sandy, but, in the 
interior, black and fertile, and well suited for cotton. 
Sugar-cane, betel-nut, and tobacco, are grown besides 
many fruits and esculent vegetables. The people are 
Hindus, and speak Tamil. There are good roads. Ma- 
dura is the capital. It is a well built town, of great 
antiquity, and contains many remarkable pagodas. It 
was formerly the chief seat of learning of Southern India. 
Weaving, and working in brass, are extensively carried 
on. Distance SW. from Madras, 215 miles. Dindigul is 
a well built town, on the slope of a hill, with a fort. It 
is well supplied with water. Bamnad is a decent town 
and fort, near the coast, with a Protestant church, 
sixty miles SE. of Madura, where much coarse cloth for 
native wear is made. It is the nearest town to Ceylon, 
and the line of telegraph to Ceylon branches at this point 
from the main line. 

Malabar (lat. 10° 15'— 12° 18'; long. 75° 15'— 7.6° 55'; 
area, 6,261 sq. m. ; pop. 1,500,000). — A narrow strip of 
country, 140 miles long, and less than forty miles wide, 
between the "Western Ghats and the sea, with several har- 
bours for small craft along the low sandy shore. The 
Ghats rise from the plain to an elevation of from 5,000 
to 6,000 feet, their sides being clothed with magnificent 
forests of teak, black wood, and cedar, the timber of which 
is floated down to the coast by the torrents that rush 
down the slopes during the rainy season. The passes 



222 



GEOGKAPHY OF INDIA. 



across the Ghats are steep and difficult, but very pic- 
turesque. In the plains, the soil is amazingly fertile, and 
produces rice, cardamoms, coffee, and pepper in great 
abundance ; the latter especially. 

The climate of the coast is warm and equable, ranging 
from 68° to 88°. March, April, and May are the hot 
months, the monsoons beginning in June with storm. 
There is a great variety of races of men in this district. 
Among them are Nairs, who are numerous and influ- 
ential, and were long the rulers. Among their peculiar 
customs is the total absence of the marriage tie. The 
Tiars are chiefly cultivators, and are much despised by 
the ISTairs. Both these are Hindus. The Moplays, or 
Manilas, are Mahomedans, the descendants of some of 
the very earliest converts. They are fanatical and 
troublesome. A large proportion of the inhabitants are 
Christians, who were at one time very numerous along 
the whole of the west coast of India. They are partly 
Syrian Christians, and partly Roman Catholics. The 
former have a very simple faith, and they appear to 
be reasonable and moderate. They attribute their 
origin to the preaching of St. Thomas the Apostle. 
Besides these religionists, there are also Jews of two 
denominations : the Black Jews, who are of dark colour, 
and of very ancient date, and the "White Jews, who 
date from a much more recent period. The people 
generally are engaged in trade or agriculture, as there 
are no manufactures. The name "Malabar Coast," 
applied to the west coast of India generally, is supposed 
to be derived from the word " Malayalam," or "skirting 
the hills." 

The subdivision of Wynad, in the east of Malabar, 
is an elevated plateau, 1,100 square miles in extent, rising 
abruptly from the west, but sloping towards the east. It 
is exceedingly picturesque and fertile ; the hills are covered 
with forests of valuable wood, and every little valley pro- 
duces abundant crops. The whole is well cultivated, and 
is a remarkable instance of the result of energy and in- 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



223 



dustry in a district once avoided as deadly, and left to the 
elephant, the tiger and the monkey. 

Beypur is a port, rising into importance, situated on an 
estuary abont six miles sonth of Calient. There is rail- 
way commnnication with Madras, and iron and coal exist 
in the adjacent hills. Calicut is a seaport town on the 
open beach in the southern part of Malabar, formerly 
-a place of great importance. The haven is filled np 
np with drifted sand, and the palaces of the princes, who 
once lived here, are not even indicated by rains. Yasco 
de Gama, the first European navigator who visited India, 
touched here in 1498. The town was taken by Tippoo 
Sultan in 1789, who butchered the inhabitants, and de- 
stroyed the place. Cannanore is a seaport of great an- 
tiquity, in a small bay fifty miles north of Calicut. There 
is anchorage, but the shelter is not complete. It is popu- 
lous, but irregularly built, and has considerable trade in 
pepper, grain, timber, and cocoa-nuts. The soil and 
climate are especially favourable to the growth of the 
cocoanut-palm. It is the principal station in Malabar 
district. Cochin* is a town about a mile long and half a 
mile wide, at the entrance of a large series of lagoons, 
which extend north and south along the coast for 200 
miles, and are separated from the sea only by a narrow 
strip of land, varying in breadth from a quarter of a mile 
to a mile. This system of lagoons is called the Back- 
water of Cochin {see p. 234). The lagoons are con- 
nected with several rivers, but the number of open com- 
munications to the sea is very small, the principal one 
being that on which Cochin is built. Owing to its 
peculiar situation, it is well adapted to ship-building, and 
Cochin is, indeed, the only place along the west coast of 
India, south of Bombay, where large ships can be built. 
The approach to the harbour is impeded by a bar, but is 
practicable for vessels drawing fifteen feet of water. In- 



* The town is not subject to the small independent state bear- 
ing the same name (see p. 234). 



224 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



side there is a depth of thirty feet. The streets are good 
and well built. There is much trade. The population is 
large, and includes Europeans, Hindus, Moplays, Arabs, 
Persians, Portuguese, and Jews. Distance SW. from 
Madras, 350 miles; SE. from Bombay, 665 miles. 

Make is a French possession (see p. 238). Mananta- 
waddy, in the Wynad, is beautifully situated, and is the 
resort of planters. It is forty -three miles NE. from Cali- 
cut, and fifty miles E. from Cannanore. Tellicherry is a 
seaport town, beautifully situated a little to the south 
of Cannanore, in a very healthy district. It is a busy 
place, and the neighbouring country is highly productive. 
The rainfall amounts to 130 inches during the wet season. 
Palghat is a straggling town, with a fort, in the beautiful 
valley bearing the same name, through which the railway 
runs. 

Nellore (lat. 13° 55'— 16° ; long. 79° 8'— 80° 21' ; area, 
8,341 sq. m. ; pop. 1,000,000).— A flat district on the 
Coramandel coast, north of Northern Arcot, low and 
sandy near the coast, and comparatively barren, with 
large tracts of jungle, but rising in the interior into hills, 
few of which, however, exceed 400 feet above the sea. It 
is crossed by the Pennar river, whose bed is nearly dry in 
the dry season, and by a number of less important streams, 
all of which are dry, except during the monsoon, when 
the volume of water is extremely large. There are many 
reservoirs in the district, which assist in irrigation. The 
climate is dry, equable, and healthy; the fall of rain 
moderate (thirty or forty inches). Much of the land is 
uncultivated ; but in the watered and cultivated parts all 
the ordinary crops are grown. There is salt made in large 
quantity, and iron and copper ores have been found. 
Among the inhabitants is a race called Yanadis, wild and 
savage, of short stature and black complexion, and living 
on roots and wild fruits, leaves, rats, and snakes. They 
are quite distinct from their neighbours in religion and 
language, and are probably aborigines. jSTellore pro- 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



225 



duces a fine breed of bullocks, much in request for draught 
all over Southern India. 

Nellore, the chief town, is irregularly built; but it is a 
large town, with 20,000 inhabitants, and is tolerably clean. 
It is about 100 miles 1ST. of Madras. Ongole is rather 
large, so far as population is concerned, but consists 
chiefly of miserable huts. 

Salem (lat. 11° 2'— 12° 54'; long. 77° 32'— 79°; area, 
7,610 sq. m.; pop. 1,200,000). A district in the interior, 
between South Arcot and Mysore. The western part is 
very mountainous, attaining in some places an elevation 
of between 5,000 and 6,000 feet above the sea ; but there 
is much cultivation, and the forests are very valuable. Id 
the eastern part, the line of the Eastern Ghats forms the 
boundary. There are some rivers and subordinate streams, 
and several reservoirs, in the district ; most of the streams 
running southward and south-westward, into the Oauvery, 
but some northward, into the Palar. The hills are very 
healthy, and are visited by invalids ; but the plains are 
swampy and unhealthy. The climate differs exceedingly 
in different parts. The chief products are cotton, coffee, 
tea, indigo, sugar, and tobacco. Carbonate of magnesia 
is found native in a stony barren plain in the middle of 
the district, and is extensively used for various purposes. 
Iron ore is also common in the hill country. The town of 
Salem lies in the narrowest and lowest part of a valley in 
the middle of the district. It is tolerably well built, with 
two wide handsome streets, and many of inferior con- 
struction. The population of the city is about 20,000. 
Distance SW. from Madras, 170 miles. 

Tanjore (lat. 9° 52'— 11° 53'; long. 78° 55'— 79° 55 ; 
area, 3,720 sq. m. ; pop. 2,000,000.) — A district occupying 
part of the south-eastern corner of the peninsula, on the 
northern side of the long line of rocky ledge that almost 
connects it with Ceylon. It has a sea-coast of 160 miles, 
including windings ; and for half this distance the coast 

15 



226 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

cannot be approached with safety, owing to the rocky 
character of the shore of Palk's Straits. In none of the 
ports is there shelter for other than small vessels. The 
tract is crossed by several streams, and is exceedingly 
fertile. There is much trade. Owing to an elaborate 
system of dams, cuts, and canals in connection with the 
Eivers Can very and Coleroon, there is always water for 
irrigation, and the soil is rendered exceedingly productive. 
Tanjore, built on an extensive plain on the banks of a 
branch of the Cauvery, consists of two forts, one of them 
four miles in circumference, with a fortified wall and 
ditch. The streets are irregularly built. There are 
numerous pagodas. The smaller fort is a mile in circuit, 
and contains within it a pagoda, considered to be the 
finest in India. It has considerable trade, and manufac- 
tures of silk, muslins, and cottons. Distance SW. from 
Madras, 180 miles. Combaconwm, 20 miles NE. of Tan- 
jore; large, and with many fine pagodas, and a pro- 
vincial college. Carical, a French settlement (see p. 238). 
May aver am, a place of pilgrimage, with many pagodas, 
and a large population. Najore is on the coast. Nega- 
patam is a place of considerable trade, on an estuary of 
the Cauvery, nearly opposite Ceylon. It is well built 
and improving, and is the starting point of a railway to 
Madras by Trichinopoly. Sheally is a large town, with 
many inhabitants. Tranquebar is a large town on the 
coast. 

Tinnevelly (lat. 8° 9'— 9° 56'; long. 77° 15'— 78° 2(3' ; 
area, 5,144 sq. m. ; pop. 1,250,000). — The south-eastern 
extremity of the peninsula of India, with a coast line of 
about 100 miles, on the Gulf of Manar, and a country 
extending back to the ridge of the Western Ghats, at an 
elevation of 4,300 feet. Near the sea, the land is every- 
where low and fiat, but it gradually rises to a plain about 
200 feet above the sea, and from this plain rise the 
mountains, from which many streams proceed, and water 
the district. During the monsoons much of the country 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



227 



is flooded, and a large part is watered "by irrigation, the 
water being conveyed in canals from the River Tam- 
baravari. The climate is very hot and dry, except at the 
season of the monsoons. The natural vegetation of the 
country includes enormous timber trees, date-palm, sago- 
palm, many twining plants, and others. The soil is poor. 
Cotton is grown, and the ordinary crops of the country 
are obtained, but the cultivation is neither very great nor 
very profitable. There is a pearl fishery on the coast, but 
that also is unimportant, and the navigation of the coast 
is too dangerous to admit of much trade. Among animals, 
the wild elephants are numerous, and sometimes trouble- 
some. Tinnevelly is the principal town. It is situated 
in the interior of the country, on a stream ; on the other 
side of which is Palanicotta, a military station. The 
population is 20,000. Courtallum is a small town in a 
recess on the eastern side of the Western G-hats, thirty- two 
miles from Tinnevelly, and 700 feet above the sea. It is the 
resort of invalids from the plains during the hot season. 
The scenery is very beautiful, and the beauty is enhanced 
by a number of waterfalls, a stream falling in a succes- 
sion of leaps, the lowest of which is 200 feet down. 
Tutkorin is the only port of any importance. It has a 
safe roadstead, with good anchorage, sheltered on one side 
by the mainland, and on the other by a chain of islands, 
extending about eight miles from north to south. The 
shipping trade is considerable, cotton being the chief 
export. There are pearl banks adjacent, but they have 
not proved very important. Distance E. from Tinne- 
velly, 33 miles ; SW. from Madras, 325 miles. 

Trichinopoly (lat. 10° 37'— 11° 31'; long. 78° 13'— 
79° 37' ; area, 3,097 sq. m. ; pop. about a million). — A 
small district on the eastern side of the peninsula, in the 
interior, and situated between Salem and Tanjore. It is 
flat, the flatness broken only by hummocks and rocky 
fragments of granite, projecting above the general sur- 
face. The granite is a useful stone, hard and very 

15 * 



228 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



durable. Except in the extreme south of the district, 
the soil is a deep black fertile mould, producing two 
crops annually. The mean annual rain-fall is consider- 
able, but not excessive, but the district is arid, and with- 
out irrigation would be a desert. For months together 
the temperature is always high, the sky cloudless, the air 
dry, close, and sultry, with much glare and intense 
radiation of heat. High winds and whirlwinds occur 
occasionally, but the monsoons are not strongly marked. 
Fogs and noxious exhalations are, however, unknown. 
The principal stream is the Cauvery, which is nearly 
dry in the dry season. Trichinopoly is subject to a 
plague of ants, and other destructive insects, and has 
several poisonous snakes. The crops grown are chiefly 
tobacco and cotton. Cocoanut- trees are very abundant. 
Bice, the grain called raji (Eleusina coracana), many 
kinds of millet, maize, and plaintains, are the food plants. 
The chief town is also Trichinopoly, situated on the 
Cauvery. The streets are straight and wide, but the 
houses low, small, and closely huddled together. Most of 
the streets have bazaars. Near the town, on a rock 600 
feet above the plain, is the fort, including the citadel, a 
pagoda much resorted to by devotees, and other buildings. 
The inhabitants of the town manufacture filagree work, 
hardware, cutlery, saddlery, and cheroots. Close to the 
town, on an island formed by the embranchment of the 
Cauvery, is a celebrated pagoda, enclosed by seven square 
walls, the outermost four miles in circuit, and each 
twenty-five feet thick. Within the area, besides the 
pagoda, are streets and shops and residences of the 
Bramins. The town is called Sermgam. Trichinopoly 
is 190 miles SW. of Madras. 

Vizagapatam* (lat. 17° 15'— 19° 3'; long. 82° 24/— 
84°; area, 18,935 sq. m. ; pop. 1,250.000). — A belt of land 
on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, in the northern part 



Yizagapatam and Ga;njam are the non -regulation districts. 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



229 



of the Presidency of Madras, immediately south of the 
state of Ganjam. It is a part of the large extent of 
shore known as the Orissa coast. The coast line is bold, 
steep, and marked by a ridge of rocky hills. The sur- 
face of the district is generally undulating, rising towards 
the interior, and crossed by streams, which are dry except 
during the rainy season. The climate on the coast is 
hot, moist and relaxing ; more inland it is equally sultry, 
though drier. The land-winds, however, which are 
generally oppressive in the Carnatic, are not felt. There 
are few industries. The crops are those common to the 
country. Iron is found in many parts, and cotton goods 
are manufactured. The town of Vizagapatam, the chief 
town of the district, is on the coast, and has a harbour 
and docks for small shipping. It is famed for its elegant 
elk-horn boxes and carving, and for its gold and silver 
filagree work. There is a fort containing barracks. The 
native town contains good streets, but is crowded. The 
climate is unhealthy. Near at hand is the civil station 
and cantonment of Waltair. Distance STB. from Madras, 
380 miles ; SW. from Calcutta, 470 miles. Vizianagram 
is thirty miles to the iSTE. It is healthy. There is a fort 
and military cantonment. BimJ/I/patam is a maritime 
town of rising importance, eighteen miles from Yizaga- 
patam. 



2. Mysore and Coorg. 

These important principalities, which were till lately 
governed by separate princes or Rajas, are now under 
the control of a commission appointed by the Governor- 
General of India. They are extensive, and occupy a 
large part of the interior of the southern part of the 
peninsula. There are three principal divisions — Nundi- 
droog, Astagram, and Nuggur. Each comprises two or 
three districts, and to the latter Coorg is added. Besides 
the Commissioner, there is a Judicial Commissioner, or 
Chief Judge, and a Director of Education. 



GEOGRAPHY OF TSDIA. 



Mysore (lat. 17°— 15°; long. 74°— 79°; area, 27,003 
sq. m. ; pop. 3,929,715). — An extensive country, in the 
interior of the peninsula, almost approaching the Mala- 
bar coast at its north-western extremity, bounded by 
the districts of the Bombay Presidency on the north, 
skirted by the Eastern and Western Ghats, and reaching 
the Neilgherry Hills on the south. 

Mysore was erected into a state protected by the Indian 
Government in 1799, and remained for some time an in- 
dependent principality, governed by a Maharaja. The 
late Maharaja, who died in 1868, assumed the govern- 
ment in 1810. In 1831 the Government of India 
marched troops into the province to subdue a formidable 
rebellion resulting from misrule, and the Raja was 
dethroned, and not subsequently restored. In 1865 he 
adopted a successor, who was recognized in 1867. This 
young prince is now about six years old, and is being 
trained under British influence for the government. It 
is at present under the protection and management of 
the British, and is managed by a Commissioner. 

This country consists almost entirely of an undulating 
and elevated table-land, averaging 2,000 feet above the 
sea, and rising to nearly 6,000 feet in some places, the 
higher elevations consisting of isolated and detached 
ranges. It is very remarkable in its physical features, 
owing to the number of huge isolated granitic rocks, 
rising abruptly to heights varying from 1,000 to 1,500 
feet above the plateau, with bases seldom exceeding two 
miles in circuit. These rocks are called Droogs, and are 
generally crowned with forts nearly inaccessible. Of 
these, some, as ^sunclidroog and Severndroog, exceed 
4,000 feefc in height above the sea. The mountain ranges 
are the Sivagunga (4,600 feet), and the Bababudin ranges 
(6,000). In the northern and north-western parts, the 
Ghats, receding, leave the intervening country plain and 
open, and sloping gradually, generally towards the north, 
but in one part westward. The drainage is to the north 
throughout the northern provinces, and in the southern 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



231 



it is to the south and south-east, the Cauvery being the 
principal stream, and its many affluents assisting to 
water the country. 

The climate of Mysore is sensibly affected by its con- 
siderable elevation above the sea. At Bangalore (3,000 
feet above the sea) the mean average at noon is 76°, and 
the maximum 82° in the shade ; but the range is always 
great. The nights are seldom hot, the mornings and even- 
ings always cool, if not cold, and the air is very elastic. 
The rain-fall is very heavy, the south-west monsoon bring- 
ing torrents, which fill the largest reservoirs in a few hours. 
Electric storms are common, and excessively violent. 

The soil is a rich red earth containing iron in the 
heights, and a clayey earth in the valleys. It produces 
rice, ragi, millet, gram, wheat, sugar, betel, opium, and 
coffee. The irrigation is carried on by the aid of artificial 
reservoirs, which are very numerous. Some of them are 
surrounded by stone embankments. The water is good, 
when obtained from the river or reservoirs ; but the well- 
water is brackish. In seasons of drought, as in 1866-7, 
there is famine and great suffering for want of sufficient 
storage of water. There are good roads through the 
country, and a branch of the Madras railway reaches 
Bangalore. 

The people are a healthy robust race, taller than those 
of the Ooromandel coast. They have regular features and 
fair complexions. Most of them are Braminists. They 
are generally regarded as deceitful, inconstant, and profli- 
gate ; but they are courteous, contented, and patient under 
misfortune. They dress with a woollen blanket and a jacket, 
and they live in miserable mud-built houses, thatched, and 
without windows or other opening than the door. 

Mysore, the chief town of the territory, is a decent, 
regularly-built, large town, on a declivity between two 
parallel ranges of hill. It is now only indifferently sup- 
plied with water, but has a canal leading from the Cauvery 
running through it. The wells yield impure and unwhole- 
some water. There is a fort, within which was the Rajah's 



232 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



palace. The population is nearly 60,000. Elevation above 
the sea, 2,450 feet. Distance, ten miles S W. from Seringa- 
patam. Bangalore, the chief station of the military force, 
is a well built town in the centre of Mysore, on a high 
ridge. It enjoys one of the finest climates in India, being 
cool and pleasant in the shade at all times. Distance NE. 
from Seringapatam, seventy-one miles. Beclnore, or Nug- 
gur, a considerable city, 4,000 feet above the sea-level ; 
made the seat of Government by Hy&er AH in 1763, and 
from him called Hyder-nuggur (Hyder's town), since 
abbreviated to Nuggur. It is well situated for commerce, 
and was formerly so wealthy that Hyder Ali is said to 
have plundered it of property worth twelve millions ster- 
ling. Distance W. from Madras 360 miles. Chtttledroog, 
a town and fort, the former on the plain, the latter on an 
adjacent rock of considerable size, part of a range of hills 
covered with jungle. The fort is strong, and long served as 
a state prison. It is 128 miles N". of Seringapatam. 
Hunsur, 13 miles SW. of Seringapatam, is a town 
noted for its manufacture of blankets and flannels. Hur- 
ryhur, a town and fort, once a place of considerable trade, 
and having a temple dedicated to the joint worship of 
Hari (Vishnu) and Hara (Siva). The climate is fairly 
good, and there is water. It is 132 miles NW. of Seringa- 
patam. Sera is a town with a large, well built stone fort, 
within which are the remains of the residence of the former 
Nabob, and a large mosque. It has been the scene of fierce 
struggles. Distance X. from Seringapatam, 92 miles. 
Seringapatam, formerly the capital of Mysore, is situated 
on the extremity of an island on the river Cauvery, 2,412 
feet above the sea. The town is ill built, mean, and dirty, 
badly ventilated, hot, with narrow streets, unhealthy, and 
excessively inconvenient. It was strongly fortified by 
Tippoo Sultan, whose palace was within the fort. Near 
it is the fine and lofty temple of Sri Eanga. Population 
about 12,000. The celebrated siege and taking of Seringa- 
patam took place in 1799, after which Mysore fell into the 
hands of the English. Distance W. from Madras, 248 mile?. 



SOUTHERN DnDIA. 



233 



Coorg (lat. 11° 56'— 12° 45'; long. 75° 25'— 76° 13'; 

area, 2,116 sq. m. ; pop. 120,000). — A nigged mountain 
district between Mysore and the Malabar coast, the 
lowest part of which is 3,000 feet above the sea. It is 
a constant succession of steep ridges and deep ravines, 
the whole clothed with forest more or less dense, but 
not so thick with underwood as to justify the term 
jungle, except to the east, towards Mysore. The general 
declivity of the country is towards the north-east, as 
indicated by the course of the Cauvery, the principal 
river, and its numerous feeders. The whole country is 
well intersected by roads, and is rapidly improving. The 
climate is generally healthy, and during part of the year 
remarkably equable, but is found to be unfavourable for 
the healing of flesh-wounds. It is wet, the rain-fall in 
1835-6 being 119 inches. The crops include cardamoms 
(growing wild), coffee, tea, cinchona (for Peruvian bark), 
and cotton. The population are chiefly Nairs. The 
Coorgs are a handsome athletic race, brave, industrious, 
and intelligent ; and superior in physical development to 
the natives of the plains. 

Coorg is to all intents and purposes annexed to the 
British Empire, but is administered under the Commis- 
sioner of Mysore, for the benefit of the British Indian 
Government, as though it were still a native state under 
protection. 

Merkera is the chief town of Coorg, 3,700 feet above 
the sea. It is situated on a table-land sloping gradually 
to the north and east, and dropping precipitously 500 
or 600 feet to the lower country in other directions. 
On an isolated eminence is a fort. The climate is 
healthy, and the town is generally thickly peopled by 
visitors; the population being composed of the British 
authorities and their dependents. Distance W. from 
Madras, 315 miles. Fraserpet, a town on the Cauvery, 
3,200 feet above the sea. The soil is alluvial and well 
drained, and the air salubrious, though warm in the day. 
The nights are always cool and pleasant. Distance W. 



234 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



from Madras, 290 miles. Virajenderpettct a large town, 
3,400 feet above the sea, chiefly inhabited by native 
Christians. It is sixteen miles S. of Merkera. 

3. Native States. 
The native states of Southern India are few in number, 
and, with the exception of Travancore and Cochin, very 
small in extent and importance. 

Bunganapilly (lat. 15° 2'— 15° 29' ; long. 78° 8'— 78° 27' ; 
area, 500 sq. m. ; pop. 35,200). — A small state in the 
district of Cuddapa, situated a little south of the Kistna. 

Cochin (lat. 9° 48'— 10° 50'; long. 76° 5'— 76° 58'; 
area, 1,131 sq. m. ; pop. 399,060). — A small irregularly- 
shaped hilly tract of country, between the British 
district of Malabar and the native state of Travancore, 
extending over the Western Ghats, and terminated west- 
wards by a singular series of shallow lakes, or lagoons, 
called by the British residents hackwaters, receiving 
the drainage of the numerous streams coming from the 
Ghats, but separated from the Arabian Sea by narrow 
spits of land. Owing to the torrents of rain that fall 
and run down towards the sea, during the wet season, 
these lagoons are liable to enormous changes of level 
and area. One of the feeders has been known to rise 
sixteen feet in twenty-four hours. These backwaters 
extend north and south for a distance of 120 miles, 
and by canals they admit of internal navigation to the 
extent of 200 miles from north to south. Their form is 
exceedingly irregular, and they communicate with the 
sea only at three points. They are always more or less 
navigable. All the lands around are occasionally 
swamped, and yield large crops of rice, or are covered 
with cocoanut-palms ; but the atmosphere is rendered 
damp and unpleasant, though the coast is not considered 
particularly unhealthy. 

The dense forests in the higher part of Cochin yield 
large quantities of valuable timber, which, with rice, 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



235 



pepper, and cardamoms, are the chief subjects of export. 
Coffee, cotton, and sugar-cane are also cultivated. The 
population is mixed, including Braminists of several 
castes, native Christians, Jews, and Mussulmans. There 
are also hill races, apparently descendants of the abori- 
gines. All are poor and badly clothed. There are coarse 
manufactures of various kinds, and on the coast there 
are rope-makers and ship-builders. Trichur, the place of 
greatest importance, is well situated on the eastern coast 
of the backwater, and has several modern buildings. It 
is celebrated for its sanctity. Distance JST. from Cochin, 
41 miles. 

Puducotta (lat. 10° 6'— 10° 46'; long. 78° 33'— 79° 16'; 
area, 1,037 sq. m. ; pop. 62,000). — A small state to 
the north-east of Madura, subject to the supervision of 
the Madura Collector, but under the government of a 
Eajah, called the Tondiman. Much of it is covered with 
dense jungle. There is a town of the same name on the 
left bank of the Yellore river, 59 miles JSTE. by E. of 
Madura. 

Sundur (area, 145 sq. m. ; pop. 13,446). 

Travancore (lat. 8° 4'— 10° 21; long. 76° 14'— 77° 38'; 
area, 6,653 sq. m. ; pop. 1,250,000). — An important strip 
of land between the southern extremity of the Western 
Ghats and the sea. The Ghats rise in this extreme end 
of the peninsula of India a height of 7,000 feet above 
the sea, and terminate in a bold promontory a little above 
Cape Comorin. The principality of Travancore has a 
coast line of 155 miles to Cape Comorin, and throughout 
the whole distance there is no safe harbour for ships of 
any burthen, although there are several roads having good 
anchorage in favourable weather. On the coast there is 
a considerable extent of low country, in some places fifty 
miles wide, though generally less. It is much intersected 
by rocky hills, and has a mean elevation of 200 feet. 
Behind this, and towards the interior, there is a high 



236 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

plateau, 2,500 feet above the sea on its western edge, and 
rising gradually towards the east, where it reaches 4,000 
or 5,000 feet. 

Although Travancore is so near the equator, the high 
lands enjoy a moderate temperature, and even the lower 
parts of the country are cooled by the rains and by the 
proximity of the mountains and the sea. The thermo- 
meter does not appear often to rise above 90° in any 
season in the shade. The climate is moist, and the rain- 
fall considerable ; but though enervating, it is not abso- 
lutely unhealthy. There is, however, no bracing weather. 
The country is very rich in zoology, the variety of quad- 
rupeds, birds, and reptiles in the' forests being very great : 
tigers of enormous size, bats as large as chickens, the ant- 
bear, the black leopard, and many other rare and remark- 
able animals abound : snakes of the most deadly character, 
and alligators of great size are also common. The rivers 
and lakes, as well as the sea, abound with fish. 

The soil in the low grounds is eminently favourable to 
vegetation. Rice and the sago-palm afford enormous 
supplies of food, and many vegetables are cultivated with 
success. The soil on the upper plateau is light and 
gravelly. 

The population of Travancore includes Braminists, 
Mussulmans, and Christians, and a few Jews. The 
Bramins are very numerous, and include many of those 
called Namhuris, considered to be aboriginal, and very 
highly regarded. There are also many Nairs, of the 
Sudra or labouring caste by descent, but engaged in 
various occupations, including the army. As is usual 
with these people, there are no marriage ties, the men 
and women living in promiscuous intercourse, without 
restraint. The Eaja is said to belong to this class. 
The Mahomedans include Moplays, descendants of Arabs 
settled on the coast, Lubbis, mixed Arabs and Hindus, 
and a few of Patan descent. The Christians are of 
three classes — Ancient Syrian Church, Romanists, and 
Protestants, and are said to amount to an eighth of the 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



237 



whole population. Besides these, there is a wild race of 
savages living in the mountains. 

Communication through this state is easy, as there are 
many good roads, several of them crossing the mountains 
to Madura and Tinnevelly, and not less than fourteen 
streams, all more or less navigable for country boats, 
crossing generally from east to west, and entering the 
lagoons or backwaters. The governing authority is a 
Baja; and Travancore is one of the most progressive 
and liberal of the countries in India still under native 
government. Police, hospitals, and schools have been long 
established ; missionaries are freely admitted ; restrictions 
on commerce are abolished, and there are many English 
settled in the country. 

Trevandrum is the principal town. It is situated near 
the coast, not far from Cape Comorin, on the banks of a 
small stream. It is of considerable size, but is an ugly, 
ill built place. There is a fort about half a mile square, 
without a ditch, in which is the handsome palace of the 
Eajah, built in European style. An observatory was 
built in 1837, on a height adjacent the town. The town 
is 135 feet above the sea, and is 395 miles SW. of Madras. 

Aleppi (Aidapolaij) is the principal seaport. It is on 
the land between the lagoons and the sea, with which it 
communicates by a wide creek or inlet. It comnmnicates 
with various towns in the interior by canals and the 
lagoons. It is a tolerably large place, without shelter for 
shipping, but having anchorage a few miles from the 
shore. Large quantities of pepper, cocoa-nuts, cardamoms, 
and timber are exported hence. Distance S. from Cochin 
city, 33 miles. Quilon is another seaport between Tre- 
vandum and Aleppi, where there is generally a small 
British force. It is a healthy town, with a population of 
20,000, and much trade. It enjoys great facilities of 
water communication. It is said to have been the first 
settlement on the coast. Travancore was the former 
capital, but is now deserted. It is on the sea- coast. 



238 



GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 



4. French Possessions. 

The French still retain in India a small number of 
towns and some surrounding territory, and these, with 
one exception, are on the eastern or Coromandel coast. 
With the same exception they are all within the Madras 
Presidency. The following are the various possessions : — 

Carical. — A settlement within the limits of Tanjore, 
in the Presidency of Madras, situated near the Coromandel 
coast, on a small estuary of the Cauvery. The sur- 
rounding French territory contains an area of sixty-three 
square miles, and the population is about 50,000. The 
little port is quite shut up by a sand-bar during the 
dry season, but this is swept away by the first monsoon 
rains, causing an inundation of the river. It was re- 
stored in 1814, but is not allowed to be fortified. 

Cfrandanagore. — Avery small territory of 2,230 acres, 
delightfully situated on the banks of the Hoogly, in the 
Presidency of Bengal. The population is 35,000, of 
whom not much more than one per cent, are of European 
or mixed blood. It is subject to the Governor of Pondi- 
cherry. There is a French town, with an air of ruined 
greatness ; its fine quay, and the wide street opening into 
it, being overgrown with grass, and the former residence 
of the Governor abandoned for one of less pretence. 
Adjoining the French town is a native town, consisting 
of huts and poor houses jumbled together with Bra- 
minical temples, having in front ghats, or flights of steps, 
giving access to the river, which is much frequented by 
bathers. Formerly, the Hoogly had sufficient water 
opposite the town to float ships of the line, but the deep 
channel has shifted. Chandanagore was occupied by the 
French in 1700, and flourished till captured by Clive in 
1757. In 1763 it was given back, but retaken by the 
English in 1793, and finally restored in 1816. Distance 
N. from Calcutta, 17 miles. 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



239 



Mahe. — A small settlement, with about two square 
miles of territory, within the limits of the British district 
of Malabar, on the Malabar coast, between Cannanore 
and Calient. The population is about 3,000. It is on 
the south side of the estuary of a small stream only 
navigable for boats, but the site of the town is fine, 
being on high ground overlooking the river. It is neatly 
built. It was at one time troublesome, and was taken 
by the English in 1793, but given up again in 1815. 

Pondicherry. — A territory 107 square miles in extent, 
on the Coromandel coast, eighty- six miles south of Ma- 
dras, containing the town bearing the same name, and 
three districts, including in all nearly a hundred villages. 
The population in 1856 was about 120,000. The town of 
Poncliclierry, the capital of the French possessions in 
India, and the seat of their supreme Government, is 
situated at the mouth of a small river, in a pleasant, 
convenient, healthy spot. It is a conspicuous object from 
the sea. There are two divisions of the town, one in- 
habited chiefly by Europeans, the other by natives. The 
former has well built streets and boulevards, and is re- 
gularly built. Pondicherry was first occupied by the 
French in 1672, having been obtained by purchase from 
the King of Bejapore. It was taken by the English in 
1761, and restored finally in 1815. 

Yanaon. — A settlement near the mouth of the Goda- 
very, on the Orissa coast, in the Godavery district, within 
the Presidency of Madras. It is situated at the bifurca- 
tion of the navigable channel called the Coringa river, 
about nine miles above the embouchure of the main 
stream, and six miles from the town of Coringa. The 
extent of the territory is 8,147 acres (rather more than 
eleven square miles), more than half being land under 
cultivation, and 862 acres covered with woods and forests. 
Vessels of 200 tons can reach the town. The population 
in 1840 amounted to 6,881. 



240 



GEOGKAPHY OF INDIA. 



5. Ceylon. 

This large and fertile island, lying at the entrance of 
the Bay of Bengal, and separated from the continent of 
India by the Gulf of Manar and Palk's Straits, lies be- 
tween lat. 5° 56'— 9° 46' and long. 79° 36 / — 81° 58'. It 
is 270 miles in length, with an average breadth of 100 
miles, being shaped something like a pear, narrowing 
towards the north. It is almost brought into communi- 
cation with the mainland by a chain of sandbanks, con- 
necting the two islands of Manar and Panmben, and 
called Adam's Bridge. The total area is 24,600 miles. 
It is divided into six provinces, and has a Governor, 
appointed by the Colonial Office, who is independent of 
the Viceroy of India. 

The interior of Ceylon is mountainous, consisting of a 
lofty plateau, having a mean elevation of 6,000 feet, with 
various peaks rising to a further height of 2,000 feet. 
The highest point is Ellia, 8,260 feet, overlooking the 
high plain of Newera. Adam's Peak, further to the 
southward, is 7,420 feet. Among the mountains are 
beautiful and fertile valleys, and lofty plains. A broad 
belt of low land extends round the coast, and the 
northern half of the island is level. The northernmost 
extremity is broken into rocky islands, and terminates in 
the peninsula of Jaffna. 

The largest river is the Mahavilli Gunga, which flows 
from the centre of the island towards the north-eastern 
coast, and has a length of about 200 miles. There are 
many smaller streams, and on the west coast are salt- 
water lagoons available for internal navigation. 

The chief productions of the mineral kingdom are 
ores of iron and manganese. Plumbago, nitre, alum, 
and salt are also obtained. The island is rich in precious 
stones, yielding ruby and sapphire, diamond, cat's-eye, 
beryl, amethyst, garnet, and topaz. In the Gulf of 
Manar there is a valuable pearl fishery. 

The climate is greatly influenced by the monsoons. 



SOUTHERN INDIA. 



241 



The north-east monsoon prevails from ^November to Feb- 
ruary, and the south-west from April to September. In 
the other months variable winds and calms prevail. The 
heat is, on the whole, less oppressive, and the temperature 
more equable than on the plains of India ; but the eastern 
side of the island is hotter and more rainy than the 
western. In the mountains the climate is temperate. 

The vegetation includes nearly all the valuable pro- 
ducts of the mainland, besides others not there known, 
or nourishing less freely. Rice is grown in the lower 
parts of the island, and coffee in the interior provinces. 
The cocoanut-palm and the cinnamon-tree are character- 
istic. Cotton, the sugar-cane, and tobacco are grown 
everywhere. 

Among animals the elephant is remarkable. The wild 
elephants are numerous and very large, and often de- 
structive. All the animals common on the adjacent 
ma ; aland, except the tiger, may be found in Ceylon. 

The population is about 2,000,000. It consists of 
faces of Hindu origin in the north and north-east. The 
Cingalese, or native Ceylonese, inhabit the central and 
southern part. Mahomedans of Arabic descent are found 
everywhere, and a savage aboriginal race called Yeddas, 
live in the forests and remote parts of the interior. The 
Buddhist religion almost exclusively prevails, but Chris- 
tianity has made some progress. The Tamil language is 
spo en in the north and north-east; Cingalese and Por- 
tuguese elsewhere. Agriculture is the chief occupation ; 
but the Ceylonese have always been celebrated for gold 
and silver work, and for a kind of lacquered ware. 

The revenue amounts to about ^01,000,000 sterling, 
and is derived from land-tax, customs, stamps, salt, excise, 
and fisheries. The chief exports are cinnamon, coffee, 
and cocoanut-oil to Great Britain ; betel-nut, timber, salt, 
and cocoanut fibre to other parts of India. 

The means of communication are good, the island being 
cro? ed by excellent roads, and enjoying now also the 
benefit of a railway (see p. 40). Some of the roads pass 

16 



242 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 

along near the coast-line, others cross into the centre of 
the island. The scenery is generally charming, and some- 
times magnificent. The road from Colombo and Kandy is 
especially fine as an engineering work, part of it running 
through a tunnel 500 feet long, cut through a mountain. 
A line of telegraph crosses the island from Galle to 
Colombo and Kandy, and thence to Manar, with a branch 
to the east coast. Crossing from Manar, the wire joins 
the main line through India, opposite Adam's Bridge, at 
the town of Eamnad, in the district of Madura. 

Colombo is the seat of Government and the capital of 
the island. It is a neatly built flourishing town on the 
west coast in the southern part, and is defended by a 
strong fort. The harbour is only capable of receiving 
small vessels. Caliura, on the coast, a little south of 
Colombo, has some coasting trade. Galle is a seaport 
town situated on a low rocky point of land jDrojecting 
into the sea, at the SW. extremity of the island. It has 
a spacious harbour, and is the regular calling-place for 
the steamers to and from Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, 
China, and Australia. Jaffna is a remarkably neat and 
clean town, on an island at the northern extremity of 
Ceylon. Much salt is made in the vicinity, and this and 
the timber of the black palmyra is largely exported to 
various parts of India. The port is called Point Pedro. 
Kandy is in the interior, near the centre of the island, 
seventy-two miles from Colombo. It is at the head of a 
valley, 1,700 feet above the sea, and surrounded by hills. 
It was formerly the capital. Madura is on the south 
coast, a little to the east of Galle. It has some coasting 
trade. Xegombo, a little north of Colombo, is also a port 
with some trade. Neviera Ellia, 6,200 feet above the 
sea, is the chief sanatorium of the island. Trincomali, 
on the northern jDart of the east coast, is small, but has 
a ver} r fine harbour. 



INDEX. 



N.B. — The names 'printed in Italics are not places. The first reference points 
in all cases to the description ; the others are cross-references. 

It is suggested that if the name of a place be not found readily, the various 
possible ways of spelling according to the ordinary pronunciation 
should be tried, especially noticing that i — ce = v, u = oo,c = Jc = s; h and r 
are omitted where unnecessary, o and a sometimes interchanged. 



Abors, 68 

Abu (Mt.), 6; (town), 135 

Adam's Bridge, 240 

Aden, 205 

Ad in Nuggur, 111 

Adoni, 213 

Adwanni, 213 

Aeng, 72 

Affganistan, 139 ; 5 
Agra, 86 ; 39, 45, 169 

canal, 43 

Agur, 17l 

Ahmedabad, 181 ; 40 
Ahmednuggur, 185 
Aji (R.), 55 
Ajmir, 100 ; 132 
Ajygur, 166 
Akola, 160 
Akote, 160 
Akuicote, 203 
Akyab, 72 
Aleppi, 237 ; 3 
Ali Mohun, 165 
Aliganj, 63 
Alipur, 52 
Aliwar (canal), 42 
Allahabad, 89 ; 14, 39, 45 
Alligur, 95 ; 39 
Allypura, 166 
Almora, 104 
Aluknanda (JR.), 12, 103 
Amballa, see Umballa 
Amherst, 75 
Amjerra, 165 
Amritsur, 111; 35, 40, 

109, 138 
Andaman Islands, 75 
Animal Life in India, 23 
Arabian Sea, 2, 190 
Arabs, 27, 161 
AravaUi (Mts.), 6 ; 9, 29, 

101, 132, 135, 164 
(R.), 133 



Arconum, 40, 41 
Arcot, North, 211 

South, 212 ; 225 

Armenians, 27 
Ami, 212 
Arra, 63 

Arracan, 71 ; 1, 2, 30 

(R.), 72 

Asirgur (Mt.), 6 
Assalu, 58 

Assam, 67 ; 15, 22, 25, 29, 
46 

Assamese language, 33 

Assaye, 161 . 

Assigned districts of 

Hyderabad, 159 
Astagram, 229 
Atta of roses, 94, 127 
Attaran, 75 
Attock, 122 ; 10, 139 
Attree (R.), 16 
Aulopolay, 237 
Aurungabad, 161 
Autmalik, 176 
Avauti, 170 
Azimgur, 92 



Bababudin (Mts.), 230 
Babur, the, 102 
Backergunge, 57 
Backwaters of Malabar 

coast, 20, 223, 234 
Badaks, 27 
Badrinath, 103 
Bagarati (R.), 13 
Bagelcund, 173 
Baghiretti (R.), 12, 66 
Bagul, 129 

Bagulpur, 53 ; 30, 39 
Bahadurgur, 125 
Baiswarra, 105 
Baitul, 153 



Bajicurs, 27 
Balasinore, 197 
Balasore, 56 ; 44, 50 
Banasoa, 103 
Bancora, 54 
Banda, 90 
Bandair (R.), 166 
Bangala, 106 
Ban-alore, 231 ; 9 
Banias, 26, 27 
Banjaras, 27, 146 
BAiikipur, 62 
B.nipura, 171 



Banswarra, 132, 135 
Bantam, 44 
Baoni, 166 
Barak iR.), 16; 58 
Barashi (R.) 3 59 
Bareilly, 98 
Bari Doab, 107 ; 42 
Baria, 201 
Baroda, 198 ; 40 
Barrackpur, 52 
Barrait^h, 106 
Barren Island, 75 
Barria Hills, 198 
Barsi, 189 
Bassein, 73 

Bats, 27 ; 134, 169, 197 
Batties, 27 ; 134 
Baubier, 198 
Bawa, 204 
Bawalpur, 125 
Beas (R.\ 11 ; 107, 124 
Beder, 161 ; 158 
Bednore, 232 
Beeja, 129 

Beema (R.), 18; 158,. 189 
Beerb oom, 54 
Behar, 61 ; 49 
Behut, 166 



2U 



IXDEX. 



Behut (R j, see Jelum 
Bela, 143 
Belaspur, 129 
Belgaum, 185 ; 202 
Belhari, 153 

Bellary, 213 ; 41, 45, 203 
Beluchi language, 33, 191 
Behchis. 191 
Belv •histan, 142 ; 2, 139 
Bern re 3, 92 ; 13, 39, 45 
Bengal, 49 ; 21, 26, 28 

(Bay of), 2, 3, 16, 

19, 206, 213, 216, 228 
Bengali language, 33 
Berar, 159 ; 25 
Berhampur, 217 
Beri, 166 
Berounda, 166 
Bet island, 200 
Betiya, 63 

Beypur, 223 ; 3, 41, 211 
Betwa (R.\ 14 ; 91, 165, \ 

167, 169, 173 
Bheels, 27 ; 164, 171, 179, 

197, 201 
Bigari canal, 42 
Bijapur, 187 
Bijawar, 166 
Biji, 130 
Bijna, 166 
Bijnour, 99 
Bikanir, 132, 133, 135 
Bilsa, 169 

Bimlipatam, 229 ; 3 
Bindachal (Mts.), 94, 166 
Bindraban, 89 
Bishenpur, 54 
Bishnmutty (R.), 81 
Biswaniintry, (R.), 193 
Boad, 176 
Bogra, 64 
Bogwangola, 65 
Bokur, 175 

Bolan (R. and Pass), 142 
Bolarum, 162 
Bombay, 180, 182 ; 3, 21, 
29, 30, 40, 44, 177, 202 
Bombra, 175 
Bonasson Hill, 7 
Bonie, 175 
Booj, 196 
Bopal, 165 ; 14, 30 
Bora Samba, 175 
Borabors, 68 

Borai, 172 

Boras, 27, 197 

Boraso, 173 

Bore, 203 

Bore Ghat, 40 

Bore (of the Ganges), 13 

Bosawul, 40, 145 

Botan, 78 ; 28, 46, 49, 70 

Botias, 28, 81 



Bowani (R.), 13 
Bowanikudal, 215 
Bramaputra (R.), 15 ; 2, 

4, 5, 29, 56, 61, 67 j 
Braminism, 33 
Braminy (R.), 19 
Broach, 183; 201 
Budaon, 99 
Buddhism, 34 
Buji, 130 
Bukkur, 193 
Bulloa, 56 
Bullubgur, 125 
Bulsun, 130 
Bulundshur, 95 
Bunass(R.), 19 ; 133, 197, 

200 

Bundela country, 165 
Bundelas, 153, 167 
Bundelcund, 165 ; 25, 45, 

84, 90, 101, 146, 164 
Bunder, 219 
Bundi, 132, 135 
Bunds, 126 
Bunganapilly, 234 
Bunno, 116 

Burdwan, 54, 55 ; 25, 30, 
39, 45 

Burghers, 215 

Burgur, 175 

Burhampur, 65 

Burma 'British;, 71 ; 46 

Burman Empire, 2 

Burrisol, 58 

Burtpur, 132, 133, 135 

Burwani, 168 

Bussahir, 129 

Bustar, 150^ 

Butnair, 117 

Buttiana, 117 
\ Buxar, 63 ; 39 
! Bysonda, 166 



Cabul, 141 

Cabul river, 10, 121, 139 
Cachar, 58 
Cachi, 117 

Calcutta, 51 ; 39, 40, 44 
Calicut, 223 ; 3, 41 
Calingapatam, 217 
Calleenjur, 90 
Calliani, 40, 145 
Calpi, 102 
Caitura, 242 
Cambay, 198 

Gulf, 2, 19, 178 



182, 198 

Camroop, 68 

Canals, 41 

Canara, North, 186 

i South, 213 ; 45 

I Canarac, 57 



Canarese dialect, 32,208 
Candahar, 141 
Candeish, 183; 17, 46, 

169, 179 
Cannanore, 223 ; 3 
Canning (Port), 13, 53 
Carical, 238 

Carnatic, 211 ; 9, 21, 45 
Carwar, 186 

Cashmere, 125 ; 4, 10, 12, 
20, 46, 111, 121, 123 

Cashmiri language, 33 

Cauverv (R. •, J 3 ; 41, 
207, 215, 225, 226, 228 

Cauvery Pak, 211 

Cawnpur, 90 ; 29, 39, 45 

Central India, sec Mahva 

Central Provinces, 146 

Ceylon, 240 ; 1, * 3, 35, 
45, 206, 209, 225 

Chaibassa, 155 

Chamba, 131 

Champaneer, 197 

Champaran, 63 

Chanda, 150 ; 158 

Chandanagore, 23S ; 55 

Chandwar, 87 

Charcut, 198 

Charuns, 28; 134,169,197 

Cheduba, 71 

Chenab (R. \ 12; 111, 131 
Cherra Punji, 69; 22, 25 
Chicacole, 217 
Chilka (Lake", 216; 20, 

43, 57, 206 
China. 2, 82 
Chindwara, 153 
Chingleput, 220 
Chinsura, 55 ; 40 
Chittagong, 55, 56 ; 29, 

38, 45, 49, 50, 83 
Chittledroog, 232 
Chittore, 212 
Chota Oodeypur, 201 
Chota Nagpur, 155 
Chowka (R.), 104 
Chowra, 198 
Chumbul (R.), 14; 27, 

133, 16S, 170 
Chunar, 93 ; 43 
Chundna (R.), 59 
Chupra, 63 
Churkari, 166 
Chuttees Gur, 149 
Chutterpur, 166 
Cinoalese language, 241 
Circars, 217; 21, 45, 20S 
Cis Sutlej States(British), 
112 

(Native), 129 

Climate, 20 

Cochin (State), 234; 29 
(Town), 223 ; 3 



IXDEX. 



245 



Coconada, 3 
Cocos islands, 76 
Coel, 95 

Coimbatore, 214 ; 41, 45, 

208 
Colaba, 182 
Colair (Lake), 218 ; 20 
Coleroon(R), 18 ; 42, 212, 

226 
Coles, 28, 49 
Colombo, 242 ; 41 
Combaconum, 226 
Comorin(Cape), 235; 1, 2, 
. 7, 29 

Concan, 188 ; 29, 31, 179, 

202, 203 
Condapilly, 219 
Conjeveram, 220 
Cooch Beliar, 69 ; 83 
Coolies, 28, 130, 197 
Coonur, 215 
Coorg, 233 ; 7, 18, 229 
Corars, 214 
Coringa, 218 ; 3 
Coromandel coast, 3, 17, 

31, 210, 224, 238 
Cossimbazar, 66 
Cossya Hills, 68; 22, 28, S3 
Cossyas, 28 
Cossye (R.), 15 
Courtallum, 227 
Cubbany (R ), 18 
Cuddalore, 212 
Cuddapa, 215 ; 41 
Cumta, 186 
Cunnoits, 130 
Cunnouj, 88 
Cutch, 194; 25, 28,31, 46 

(Gulf), 178 

(Runn of), 194 ; 

19, 20, 181 
Cuttack,56; 19,25,43, 45, 

49, 50 

Cuttack Mehals, 176; 50, 

56 



Dacca, 57, 58 
Dadur (R.), 183 
Dalhousie, 73 
Daman, 204 
Daman, the, 116 
Damangunga (R.), 204 
Dami, 130 
Damo, 154 
Damoimi, 154 
Damuda <R. ), 15, 54, 155 
Dar, 168 
Darapuram, 215 
Darjeeling, 70 
Darwa, 186 
Daudputras, 28 
Daung Rajahs, 199 



! Daverkonda, 162 
i Dawalagiri (Mt.1, 4, 80 
! Deccan, 157 ; 8, 9, 23, 27, 
! 29. 144, 149 

Deedwana (Lake), 20 

Deesa, 200 

Delhi, 113; 21, 39, 40, 45, 

169 
Denwars, 28 
Deodar, 199 
Deodara, 140 
Deogur, 153 
Deojana, 128 
Dera, 96 

Dera Doon, 95 ; 46 
Dera Gazi Khan, 116 
Dera Ismael Khan, 116 
Derajat, 115 
Derbunga, 64 
Dewas, 168 
Diamond mines, 167 
Dihong (R.), 15; 4 
Dilwara, 135 
Dinajpur, 64, 65 
Dinapur, 62 ; 39 
Dindigul, 221 
Dirawal, 125 
Diu, 204 

Doab, 107 ; 29, 45, 86, 88, 

98, 120 
Doadkundy, 38 
Dodabetta (Mt.\ S 
Dolepur, 132, 135 
Dolera, 182 
Dooars, 70 ; 46, 78 
Doon, the, 96 

(canal), 42 

Dor (R.), 121 
Dowlatabad, 162 
Droogs, 230 
Dubbooe, 197 
Dudna (R.), 158 
Duflay. 203 
Dulia, 183 
Dum Dum, 52 
Dumra (R.), 56, 57 
Dungurpur, 132, 135 
Durkothi, 130 
Durrumpur, 199 
Durrung, 68 
Durwae, 166 
Duspulla, 176 
Dusti (R.), 142 
Duttea, 166 
Dwarka, 199 



Eidgir, 162 
Elephanta, 180 
Ellia (Mt.), 240 
Ellichpur, 160 
Ellora, 162 
Ellore, 218 



Erode, 41 
Erulars, 215 
Esan (R.), 89 
Eta, 87 
Etawa, 87 
Everest (Mt.), 4, 80 
Eytuh, 87 



Ferozbad, 87 
Ferozpur (Delhi), 115 

(Lahore), 118 

43, 138 
Fort St. David, 213 
Fort St. George, 210 
Fort William, 44 
Fraserpet, 233 
French possessions, 238 
Fulailee (R.), 192 
Furid Kote, 138 
Furridpur, 58 
Furruckabad, 88 
Furruck Nuggar, 128 
Futali (canal), 42 
Futegung, 98 
Futtegur, 88, 165 
Futtepur, 91 ; 45 
Fyzabad, 105, 106 



GagrafR.), 14; 13, 15, 104 
Gangadwara, 98 
Ganges (R.), 12 ; 1, 4, 26, 

42, 53, 60, 65, 80, 84, 

88, 97 
Galle, 242 
Gangpur, 175 
Ganjam, 216, 217 
Gar Canal, 42 
Gara (R.), 11, 125 
Garangs, 28 
Garrow Hills, 15, 70 
Garrows, 28 
Gaur, 65 
Gaya, 61 
Gazipur, 93 
George Town, 77 
Geria, 188 

Ghats, Eastern (Mts.), 8 ; 

9, 18, 149, 157, 207, 211, 

215, 230 
Western (Mts.), 6; 

8, 17, 28, 157, 178, 186, 

197, 203, 207, 214, 226, 

230 
Gingi, 213 
Gir Hills, 199 
Goa, 205 ; 186, 203 
Goalpara, 70 
Goalunda, 40 
Godavery (district), 218 
(R.), 17; 3, 9, 

42, 149, 153, 161, 163 



246 



Gogayra, 120 
Gogo, 182 
Gola Ghat, 69 
Golconda, 162 
Golconda coast, 3, 206 
Gond, 130 
Gond dialect, 32 
Gonda, 106 

Gonds, 28 ; 146, 153, 171 
Gondwana, 28 
Goojurs, 28 ; 109 
Goorka, 82 
Goorkas, 2S ; SI, 124 
Gooty, 213 
Gopaulpur, 217 
Goriar, 166 
Gorowli, 166 
Goruckpur, 94 
Gotmal, 160 
Goupela, 98 
Goverdun, SO 
Government, 36 
Gowhatty, 69 
Guggur (R.), 117 
Guicoicar, the, 197 ; 45, 46 
Gujerat, 122 
Gujranwalla, 119 
Gunibir (R.), 172 
Gumsur, 217 
Gunrti(R.), 14; 104 
Gundacul, 41 
Gunduck (R,), 15; 13, 64 
Gunja Hills, 192 
Guntur, 219 
Gurdaspur, 111 
Gurgaon, 115 ; 42 
Gurkhas (see Goorkas) 
Gurmuktesar, 97 
Gurra (R.), 100 
Gurudwara, 96 
Gurwal, British, 102 

Native, 128 

Guzerat, 19, 27, 29, 30, 

35, 40, 179 
Guzerat States, 196 
Guzerati language, 33 
Guzni, 141 

Gwalior Territory, 168 
Gya, 63 



Hajipur, 64 
Hala (Mts.), 142 
Hansi, 118 
Haripur, 121 
Hawulbag, 104 
Hazara, 121 
Hazaribag, 156 
Hemtabad, 65 
Hennavutty (R.), 13 
Hill States, 129; 11 
Hill Zemindars, 174 



Himalaya (Mts.), 3 ; 4, 9, 
10, 12, 15, 18, 77, 80,' 
95, 121 

Hindi language, 33 

Hindu Cush, 4, 139 

Hindur, 130 

Hindustan, 2 

Hingun Ghat, 151 

Hissar, 117 

Holkar's Dominions, I 

172; 46 
Honawar, 186 
I Hoogly, 55 

; (R.), 15; 3, 13,' 

39, 60, 238 
\ Hoosan Abdul, 123 
: Hos, 28 

i Hoshiyapur, 124 
' Hoshungabad, 154 

Howra, 51 ; 39 

Hub (R.\ 142 
■ Hubly, 186 

Hubsies, 202 
\ Humirpur, 91 

i (irrigation), 42 

* Hunsur, 232 
: Hurd, 40 
| Hurdwar, 98 
! Hurriana, 117 
; Hurripur, 121 
, Hurrisunkra, 60 

Hurryhur, 232 
; Hursul, 200 
j Huzara, 121 

i Hyderabad (C. I.), 157;' 
I 7, 149, 209 
i Hyder Xuggur, 232 
Hydrabad ,Sind\ 192 ; 39, 
190 



Idrawatty [R.), 149 
Inderput, 114 
Indian Ocean, 2 
Indore, 171 ; 40 
Indore Territory, 170 
Indrapresthra, 114 
Indus (R.), 10; 2, 4, 9, 

15 121, 123, 178, 190 
Irrawaddy (R.), 16, 73 
Iskardo, 127 
Islamabad, 127 



Jabua, 172 
Jaffna, 240, 242 
Jains, 35; 179, 197, 214 
Jallawar, 132 
Jaloun, 101 
Jalundur, 124 
Jam Ghat, 6 
Jansi, 101 ; 42 
Jarejas, 28, 31, 195 



Jats, 28 ; 109, 134, 169 
Jaulna, 163 
Java, 44 
Jehanabad, 63 
Jelalabad, 140, 142 
Jelalpur, 123 
Jellinahi, 65 

— - (R.), 13 ; 59 

Jelum, 122 

iR.), 12; 5, 11 

107, 121, 126 
Jemia, 82 
Jessore, 59 

Jessulmir, 132, 133. 135 
Jeteh Doab, 107, 123 

Jexcs, 29 

Jeynur (Rajputana), 132 

136; 31 
Jeypur (C. I.), 174 
Jeysul, see Jessulmir 
Jigni, 166 

JiU or Jhils, 94, 216 
Jini, 138 
Jinjira, 202 
Jodpar, 132, 136 
Joiinpiu, 91 
Jo war, 199 
Jowra; 172 
Juah R.\ 161 
Jubbulpur, 154; 17, 39, 

40, 145 
Jubul, 130 
Jucknowda, 173 
Juga, 149 
Jugdulpur, 150 
J uggernath, 57 
Jujur, 131 

Jumna (R.\ 13 ; 5, 11, 
89, 113, 144 

(canals), 42, 43 

Jung, 120 
Jushpur, 175 
Jusso, 166 
Jyntea Hills, 68 



Kaderabad, 163 
Kadirs, 97 
Kailas (Mt.), 10 
Kaimur (Mts.), 173 
Kaira, 184 ; 40 
Kala Bag, 10 
Kali (R. !, 14, 82 
KaliNuddi(R), 89, 95, 97 
Kali Sind(R.), 14; 168 
Kampta, 166 
Kampti, 151 
Kandy, 242 ; 41 
Kangra, 124; 107 
Karwa, 3 
Kasyas, 28 
Kaiaris, 29 
Katiwar, 199 ; 29, 31 



CsDEX. 



247 



Katmandu, 81 

Kaiodis, 29 
Katties, 29, 1ST 
Kedge, 143 
Kelat, 143 
Kerial, 175 
Kerowli, 13_2, 136 
Keunjur, 176 
KmchnrjungafMt.'!, 4, 80 
Kirtynassa <R. , W 
Kishengur, 132, 136 
Kishnagur, 60 
Kishtawar, 127 
Kistna, 219 ; 43 

(R.), 17; 3, 9, 

144, 158, 161, 187, 202 j 
Koel (R.), 156 
Koh (R. , 99 
Kohat, 121 
Koh-i-Daman, 140 
Kolapur, 202, 203 
Konds, 29; 49, 197, 217 
Konkeina, 29 
Korea, 175 
Kori (Channel), 10 
Kosilla (R.), 138 
Kosv (R.), 15; 13, 64 
Kot Kangra, 124 
Kota, 133 ; 14, 136 
Kotars, 29 ; 215 
Kotgur, 131 
Kothar, 130 
Koti (N.V.I), 130 

(CD, 173 

Kotri, 192 ; 39 
Krishna, see Kistna 
Kuen Lun, 10 
KuJcies, 29 
Kukywari (R.\ 10 
Kuladen (R.), 72 
Kuladgi, 187; 202' 
Kulburga, 163 
Kulore, 129 
Kulsea, 138 

Kumaon, 102, 103 ; 14, 
28 

Kumhassin, 130 
Kummummut, 163 
Kunawur, 129 
Kunda (Mts.), 7 
Kundulka (R.), 163 
Kundwa, 40 
Kunea, 130 
Kunjerry, 176 
Kunkur 85 
Kunthal, 130 
Kuppurchulla, 132 
Kurket (Lake), 113 
Wurmis, 29 
Kurnal, 115 
Kurnul, 219 ; 46 
Kurrachi, 192; 3, 39, 
178, 190 



Xurwai, 173 
Kushtea, 40 
Kurumbars, 215 
Kuslia, 138 
Kuzattea (R.), 64 
Kyber Pass, 121, 142 
Kyrabad, 105, 122 
Kyrpur Q& W. I.), 12 

(W. I.), 201 

Kyuk Phyii, 73 



I Mahrattas, 29 ; 146, 153. 
| 169, 179, 187 
i Mahratti language, 33 
j Maiker, 160 
I Mairs, 29, 101 
| Mairwarra, 101 
Malabar, 221 ; 29, 45 

coast, 3, 21, 31, 

41, 177, 208 
Malacca, 76 ; 46 
Malayalma, 32, 207 



Malda, 65 

Lahore, 118, 119; 12, 35,! Malwa, 164; 5, 9, 13 



40, 109, 13S 
Lakes, 19 
Lalita Patau, 82 
Landour, 96 
Lanauage, 31 
Lanji Hills, 149 
Larkana, 193 
Lascars, 182 
Leh, 127 
Leia, 116 ; 109 
Lemyo (R.), 72 
Li (R.), 11 
Logasi. 166 
Logur, 140 
Lohardugga, 1J6 
Loharu, 132 
Lohuri, 193 

Lower Provinces of Ben- 
gal, 48 ; 31 
Lubbays, 220 
Luckimpur, 69 
Lucknow, 105 ; 39 
Luckput, 196 
Ludanas, 29 
Ludiana, 112 
Lukheserai, 39 
Lullutpur, 102 
Lunawarra, 201 
Lv.nctas, 29 
Luni (R.), 19; 133 



14. 



27, 31, 84, 146 
i Malwa Sikhs, 138 
! Manantawaddy, 224 
j Manar, 240, 242 

(Gulf of), 209, 226, 

240 

Manasa Bui (Lake), 20 
Manasarova (Lake), 11 
Mandavi, 196 
Mandi, 131 
Maiigalore, 214 ; 3 
Mangol, 130 
Manjara (R.), 17, 58 
Mapilas, see Moplays 
Maravas, 29 
Martaban, 74, 75 ; 46 
Marwa, 132, 133, 136 
I Masulipatam, 219 ; 3, 45 
j Maulmain, see Moulniein 
1 Maunboom, 156 
| Mayaveram, 226 
j Meaday, 73 
I Meani, 192 
j Mecca, 202 
! Mechis, 29 
\ Meeruj, 204 
j Meerut, 95, 97; 40 
I Megna R,), 16; 56 
j Meil, 160 
| Mergui, 75 
3Ierkera, 233 



! Meywa, 133, 137, 181 
Machery, 137 j Mhye (R.), see Myhi 

Madapollam, 21S \ Mian Mir, 119 

Madras, 210; 3, 21, 40, 1 Midnapur, 55 ; 43,49 

44, 219 j Milog, 130 

Madura (S. 1.1, 220, 236 j Mineral resources of In- 

(Ceylon), 242 dia, 24 

Mags, 30 ; 72 I Mirzapur, 94 ; 39, 49 

Mahabaleshwar, 189; 72 Mithun Kote, 107 
178 j Mitrow (canal), 42 

Mahabalipuram, 220 , Mohun, 201 
Mahadeo(Mts.),!6; 17, 152, Mohurbiuige, 176 



Mahanuddy (R.), 19, 56, 

57, 65, 150, 176 
Mahavilli Gunga, 240 
Mahe, 239 ; 224 
Mahidpur, 171 
Mahratta Jaghires, 204 
provinces, 34 



Molair Kotli, 138 
Mon dialect, 32 
Mongyr, 53 
Montgomery, 120 
Monze (Cape), 190 
Moplays, 29; 214, 
236 



222. 



248 



INDEX; 



Moradabad, 99 ; 39 
Moulmein, 74 ; 3 
Mountains, 3 
Mow, 172 ; 40 
Mozuffurgur, 120 
Mozuffur Nuggar, 97 
Mozuffurpur, 64 
Muckri, 166 
Mudan, 130 
Mudhole, 204 
Mudki, 118 
Mukundpur, 173 
Mukwanpur, 82 
Mula (R.), 142 
Mulkair, 163 
Mulligaum, 183 
Multan, 120 ; 39, 109 
Mumdote, 138 
Mundesor, 170 
Mundla, 154 
Mundlaisir, 172 
Munipur, 79 ; 50 
Munyair (R.), 163 
Murshedabad, 65; 39 
Musey (R.), 160 
Mussouri, 96 
Mutla, 53 ; 61 

(R. ), 13, 40 

Muttra, 89 

Myhi (R.), 19 ; 30, 197 
Myhi Caunta, 200 
Myhir, 173 
Mymensihg, 59 
Mynpuri, 89 

Mysore, 230; 8, 18, 19, 

21 25 34 
Mvsore Hills, 214 
Myu (R.), 72 

Nabha, 138 
Nag (R.), 151 
Naga HiUs, 67, 68 
Nagas, 68 
Naggery Hills, 211 
Nagpur, 149, 151; 6, 14, 

17, 40, 46 
Nahun, 131 

Fairs, 30 ; 214, 222, 233 
Najore, 226 
Nalagur, 130 
Namburis, 236 
Nandair, 163 
Nandode, 202 
Narba, 138 
Narra (canal), 42 

(R.), 190 

Nassic, 185 ; 17, 40 
Nayuks, 30 
Neemuch, 170 
Negapatam, 226 ; 3, 41 
Negombo, 242 
Neilgherry (Mrs.), 8, 214 ; 
7, 29, 31, 41, 157, 207 



Nelgunda, 163 
Nellore, 224 ; 31, 43 
Nepanikur, 204 
Nepaul, 80 ; 15, 28, 30, 35, 

45, 49, 54, 70, 84 
Nepaulese language, 33 
Nerbudda (province ), 152 
(R.), 16; 6,14, 

148, 154, 168, 178, 183, 

197 

Nerbudda Valley, 25, 157, 

158, 171 
Newera Ellia, 242 
Newars, 27 ; 30, 81 
Nicobar Islands, 76 
Nilgur, 176 
Nimbalkur, 203 
Nirmul, 163 

Nizam's Territory, 160 ; 

17, 18, 40, 46 
North West Provinces of 

Bengal, 84 ; 29 
Nowagur, 175 
Nowgong, 69 
Nuddea (province), 59,60 
Nuddea (town), 55 
Nuggur, 229, 232 
Nundidroog, 230 
Nurpur, 117 
Nursingpur, 154 ; 40 
Nursingur, 173 
Nursipur, 218 
Nyagaon, 166 
Nya Nuggur, 101 
Nyagur, 166 
Nygowan, 166 
NyniTal, 104; 20,39 



Ocheyra, 173 

Old Woman's Island, 180 

Omutwarra, 173 

Ongole, 225 

Oojein, 170 

Oorcha, 166 

Oorias, 30 

Ootacamund, 215 

Ootch, 125 

Orissa, 49 ; 28, 29, 31, 43, 

45, 155 
coast, 3 ; 20, 44,56, 

206 

states, 174 

Oude, 104 ; 14, 27, 46, 84 
Oudeypur, 133, 137 



Pachete, 156 
Pahari, 167 

Paharis, 30 
Pahra, 167 

Palarncotta, 227 
Palamow, 156 ; 19, 25 



Palar (R.), 19; 42, 207 

211, 220, 225 
Paldeo, 167 
Palghat Valley, 224 
Pali language, 33, 35 
Palk's Straits, 3, 220, 241 
Palmyras Point, 19 
Palun Shah, 163 
Palunpur States, 200 I 
Panchavati, 185 
Paniput, 115 
Parbattia longuac/c, 33 
Parsees, 30 ; 179, 197 i 
Patans, 30; 109, 161, 173 
Patna (N. E. I.), 61, 62 ; 

14, 15, 43 
Patna (C. I.), 175 
Patowdi, 132 
Paunaben, 240 
Payne Gunga (R.), 17 
Peepley, 44 
Pegu, 73 ; 16, 46, 49 
Pegu (R.), 73 
Peint, 200 
Penang, 77 

Pennar (R.), 19 ; 42, 207, 

216, 224 
Pennar, South, (R.), 212 
Perim, 182 
Persia, 30, 139 
Persian Gulf, 27 
Pertabgur (Oude), 106 
Pertabgur, 133, 137 
Peshawur,121 ; 38, 40, 142 
Phulgur, 175 
Phultun, 203 
Pindar is, 164 
Piria (R.), 172 
Plains, 9 
Plassy, 60 ; 45 
Point Palmyras, 19 
Point Pedro, 242 
Ponairy tank, 42 
Pondicherry, 239 ; 3 
Poona, 187 ; 18, 30, 46 
Population of India, 25 
Port Blair, 75 
Port Canning, 13, 40, 53 
Portuguese Towns, 204 
Povindas, 30 
Powain, 100 
PraboJiya dialect, 81 
Prakrit language, 33 
Pranhita (R. >, 17, 158 
Presidency Province, 59 
Prince of Wales's Island. 

77 

Prome, 73 
Pubna, 66 
Puducotta, 235 
Pulicat, 219 

(Lake), 20 

Pulnai (Mts.). 9, 221 



INDEX. 



IPulo-Penang, 77; 45 
Punaka, 79 
_ Punamali, 220 
iPunassa, 153 
I Punderpur, 189 
I Punjabf 106; 4, 11, 28, 
[ 81, 40, 46 
/; Punjabi language, 33 

■ Punjnud (R. ), 12 
iPunna, 167 

I (R.l, 166 

IPunpun (R.), 62 

( Punt Prithi Nidhi, 203 

I Punt Sucheo, 203 
Purali (R.), 142 
'Pur anas, 34 
Puri, 57 
E Purnea, 54 
aPurwa, 167 

\ Pushtu language, 33, 141 
IPuttiala, 138 ; 43, 130 

■ Puttun Somnauth, 200 
Putwudun, 204 



Queda, 45 

H coast, 77 

Quilon, 237 ; 3 



Rawan Hrad, 11 
Rawul Pindi, 122 

Red Sea, 27 

ReechnaDoab,107; 41,120 
Rca illation Provinces, 86 
Regur, 216 
Religions, 33 
Revelgunge, 63 
Rewa, 173 ; 25 

(R.), 171 

Rewa Caunta, 201 
Rivers, 9 
Roads, 38 

Rohilcund, 98 ; 42, 137 
Rohillas, 30, 98, 161 
Rori, 193, 201 
Rotas, 123 
Rotuk, 118 ; 111 
Roy Bareilly, 100 
Runn of Cutch, 194 
Rungpur, 66 
Rupur, 11, 43 
Rurki, 98 
Russelkonda, 21, 
Rutlam, 174 
Rutnagerry, 188 
Ruttenpur, 152 
Ryegur, 175 
Ryotwary system, 37 



Seiiore, 165 
Sehwan, 193 
Seogaum, 201 
Sera, 232 
Serampur, 46 
Seringam, 228 
Seringapatam, 232 
Serohi, 133, 135, 137 
Severn Droog, 230 
Sewalik (Mts.), 4; 95, 96 
Shadadpur canal, 42 
Shagur, 174 
Sbahabad, 63 
Shahpur, 123 
Shajehanpur, 100 ; 14 
Shapura, 137 
Shapuri, 72 
Shassa, 79 
Shayuk (R.), 10 
Sheally, 226 
Shekawattees, 31 
Shias, 35 

Shikarpur, 193 ; 190 

Sholapur, 189 ; 40 

Shujabad, 109 

Siam, 2 

Sikh, 121 

Sikh States, 138 

Sikhs, 31, 35, 111; 10D, 
122, 163 

Sikkim, 82 ; 49, 50 

Silhet, 59 ; 25, 83 

Simla, 112; 129, 130 

Sinchul (Mts.), 70 

Sind, 189 ; 9, 20, 20, 46, 
! 143, 178, 179 

Sind (R.), see Eali-Sind 

Sind Sagur, 107 

Sindi language, 33, 191 

Sindia, 168 ; 45, 40 
; Singapore, 77 
\ Singboom, 156 
I Sings, 111 

Sin-ka-bab (RJ, 10 
j Sipra (R.), 170 

Sircars, see Circars 

Sirguja, 176 

Sirhind, 111 ; 138 

Sirmor, 131 

Sirr (Lake), 20 

Sitabuldi (Mts. }, 152 

Sitang (R.), 74' 
| Sivagunga (Mts.), 230 
: Sivestan, 5 
i Soauth, 202 

Sobraon, 118 

Sohagpur, 155 

Sohawal, 174 

Sokinda, 176 

Sone (R.), 14 

(canal), 43 

Sonepur, 176 

Sontul Pergunnas, 54 



[ Rachuti, 216 

I Radunpur, 200 

I Raeganj, 65 

§ Raichur, 40, 41 

|r Railways, 39 

P Rajamundry, 218 

I Rajapur, 202 

I Rajgur, 173 

I Rajmahal, 53 ; 39 

[ Rajmahal Hills, 30 

I Rajpipla, 201 

Hills, 198 

I Rajpur Ali, 165 
j Rajputana, 132 ; 27, 29, 
35, 40 

Rajputs, 30, 31, 169 
I Rajshaye, 64, 66 

Ramgunga (R.), 12; 99, 
137 

Ramgur, 156 
Ramnad, 221, 242 
Ramri, 72 

Rampur (N. E. I.), 66 
(N. W. I.), 137 



Rampura, 172 

Ramuses, 30, 202 

Rangoon, 73 ; 3 

Rangoon (R.), 73 
( Ranigunge, 54 
I Ranir Sing's Dominions, 
125 

| Rapti (R.), 14, 94 

^ Ravi (R.), 12, 111, 119, 131 



Sabur Mutti (R.;, 19 ; 197 
Sadras, 220 

Saharunpur, 97 ; 40, 95 
Sai (R.), 106 
Salem, 225 ; 41, 45 
Salsette, 180 ; 45, 184 
Salt Range, 5, 116, 122 
Salween(R.), 74 
Sambur (Lake), 20 
Sandoway, 72 
Sanpu (R.), 15 ; 4, 16 
Sanskrit language, 32 
Sarju (R.), 14 

| Sarun, 63 
Sarungur, 176 
Sattara, 188 ; 30, 46 
Sattara Jaghives, 203 
Satpura (Mts.), 6, 153, 

157, 168, 171, 178, 185 
Saugor, 155 
Saugri, 130 
Saunte, 202 

i Saurias, 31, 49 

; Sawunt Warri, 203 

I Sealcot, 111 

; Secrole, 93 

j Secunderabad, 163 
Secundra, 87 

! Seebpur, 69 
Seebsagur, 69 
Seeta Mow, 174 

! Seetapur, lOo 



250 



INDEX. 



Sontals, 31 
Sou (R.), 62 

Southern Mahratta Jag- 
hires, 204 
Spiti (R.), 11 
Sri-Nuggur, 103, 127 
Straits Settlements, 76 
Subrunrika (R.), 56 
Sachin, 201 
Sucti, 176 
Sudas, 31 
Suduja, 69 
Suki, 102 
Sukkur, 191 ; 42 

(canal), 42 

Sukyt, 131 

Suliman (Mts. ), 4 ; 2, 9, 

139, 142 
Sumatra, 44 
Sumbulpur, 150 
Sumtur, 167 
Sunder, 235 

Sunderbunds (Ganges), 13 

(district), 60 

(Tenasserim , 74 

Sunkasala, 43 
Sunn is, 35, 127, 140 
Surat, 184; 40, 44, 179 
Surela, 167 
Surrul, 55 

Sutlej (RJ, 11; 4, 12, 15, 
117, 129 

(canal), 43 

Sylchar, 58 

Syrian Christians, 222, 
236 

Tachirrya, 176 
Taen-long, 82 
Taj Mehal, 87 
Talak (R.), 72 
Taloyi (R.), 172 
Tambarivari (R.), 227 
Tamil dialect, 32, 208, 

221, 241 
Tanjore, 225 ; 41, 45, 238 
Tanna, 184 

Tapti iR,), 18; 7, 27, 159, 

168, 178, 197 
Tasi-choyong, 79 
Tasiding, 83 
Tatta, 193 ; 11, 190 
Tavoy, 74, 75 
Tegnapatam, 213 



Tehri, 166 ; 102 
Tehri-Futtepur, 167 
Tellicherry, 224 ; 3 
Telugu dialect, 32, 208 
Tenasserim, 74, 75; 25, 46 
Teo (R.), 121 
Terai, the, 100 ; 4, 29, 64, 

80, 84, 92, 99, 137 
Tezpur, 69 
Theog, 131 
Thugs, 31 
Thull ghat, 40 
Thunnesir, 113 
Thur, 9 ; 31, 117, 132 
Thur Canal, 42 
Thurrand, 201 
Thurwarra, 201 
Tiars, 31 ; 222 
Tibet, 2, 10, 14, 15, 49, 84 
Tibetan language, 32 
Tilhur, 100 

Tinnevelly, 226 ; 41, 237 
Tippera (British), 56 
Hill, 83 ; 50 



Tirhut, 63 
Tiri, 128 
Tista (R.), 15 
Todars, 31, 215 
Tonk, 133, 137 
Tons (R.), 130, 173 
Toruwars, 215 
Tounghu, 74 
Toungsu, 79 
Tranquebar, 226 ; 46 
Travancore, 235 
Trans-Sutlej States (Bri- 
tish), 123 

■ (Native),131 

Trevandrum, 237 
Trichinopoly, 227; 18, 41 
Trichur, 235 
Trincomali, 242 ; 3 
Tripetty, 212 ; 41 
Tromba (R.), 12 
Tumbudra (R.), 18 
Tungabudra (R.), 18, 43, 

158 
Turaon, 167 
Turre, 131 
Tundavers, 31 
Turkestan, 28 
Tuticorin, 227 ; 3, 41 
Twenty-four Pergunnas, 
61 ; 45 



Ulwur, 133, 137 
Umballa, 112 ; 40 
Ummurkuntuk, 149 
Umrawutti, 160 
Umritsur, see Amritsu . 
Urdu language, 32, 208 
Crias, see Oorias 
Uria language, 33 

Vedas, 32, 34 
Veddas, 241 
Veranum Tank, 42 
Vegetation in India, 22 
Vellore, 212 ; 41 

(R.), 235 

Vikkur, 193 
Village system, 37 
Vindya (Mts.), •"> ; 14 

17, 152, 157, 170, 198 
Vingorla, 188 
Vinukonda, 219 
Virajenderpetta, 2:Ji 
Visala, 170 
Viziadroog, 188 
Vizianagram, 229 
Vizigapatam, 228 ; 3, 21 
Vurragerry Hill.*, 221 
Vyga (R.), 221 

Waekur, 203 
Wagheas, 31 
Waltair, 229 
Waralis, 31 
Warungul, 164 
Warye, 201 

Wein Gunga (R. ,17, 14" 
Wellosley Province, 77 
West Jumna Canal, 42 
Wow, 201 

Wurda (R,), 17, 140, 158 
Y\ r urna (R.), IS, 151 
Wurungal, 1G4 
Wusravi, 201 
Wynad, 222 
Wyragur, 152 

Yanadis, 31, 224 
Yanaon, 218, 239 
Ye, 74 

Yoma (Mts.), 2 
Yumadoang (Mts.), 72 

Zemindars, HiP, 174 .f 
Zemindary system, 36 ■, 



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